Singapore police arrested four Vietnamese nationals for allegedly stealing women's apparels including undergarments on Sunday. In a press conference on Monday, police revealed that they have seized more than 800 stolen items worth S$26000.
The seized stolen garments include 529 brassieres from Uniqlo as well as apparel from ZARA. The arrested people, two men and two women aged between 26 and 31 were arrested from a hotel at along Chin Swee Road.
As per reports, the suspects have used paper bags lined with tin foil while stealing the goods so that they would not get caught on anti-theft sensors. The incident of the theft first came to limelight when the manager of a retail outlet along Pasir Ris Close made a police report stating that some of the goods from his shop were stolen.
After the arrest, police officers revealed that this is the biggest case to date that involves a shoplifting syndicate.
Tan Tin Wee, the commander of the Bedok Police Division said that the recent arrest illustrates the close partnership that the police have with retailers in Singapore. He also added that the law enforcing agencies in Singapore will take strict actions against the foreign crime syndicates operating from the country.
The suspects will be charged in court today, and if found guilty, they will face an imprisonment up to seven years and a fine.
Even though law enforcing agencies are taking strict actions to prevent shop theft, crime syndicates are still active in the country, and until June this year, there were 1,718 cases of shop theft reported. In 2015, there were 3940 cases of shop theft reported in the country, while it was 3919 and 3800 in 2016 and 2017 respectively.
In the midst of these developments, police have asked shop owners to install their premises with CCTV camera and other security devices to prevent the crime.
