Beijing's public security continues to improve with the
incidence of major crimes declining following crackdowns, a senior
Beijing police official said yesterday.
Last year, major crimes including robbery, snatch theft,
automobile theft and pickpocketing dropped by more than 5 percent
from a year earlier, Ma Xichu, director of the criminal
investigation department (CID) of the Beijing municipal public
security bureau, said in a press release.
"Robberies carried out on motorcycles have been successfully
curbed," Ma said, referring to the crime that has become rampant in
many mainland Chinese cities since 2006.
The CID said it successfully busted 73,297 criminal cases of all
kinds last year, up 11.6 percent from 65,705 the year before.
On Dec 22, Beijing police, with the help of police departments
from Tianjin, Hebei and Liaoning, successfully broke a gang
stealing polyethylene and polypropylene pellets on State roads and
highways in the northeastern regions.
The pellets are two major ingredients in the production of
plastic.
The operation was led by the Ministry of Public of Security and
had lasted for a year.
Police arrested 59 suspects, detained 35 automobiles and
confiscated more than 10 tons of the pellets as well as more than
100,000 yuan ($13,800) in cash.
"Among the suspects were a number of 'master hands' - skilled
drivers and thieves jumping between trucks traveling on the roads
and stealing the goods," Ma said.
The gang did not limit themselves to the pellets. They also
targeted trucks loaded with goods such as mobile phones, chemicals
and even refrigerators. They would follow their quarry and wait for
nightfall or foggy weather before striking.
Gao Ming, director of the Yanshan division of the CID, described
how such crimes on highways were carried out.
The suspects would drive up to their targeted trucks with their
own vehicles' lights switched off.
A "master hand" would then jump onto the targeted truck and
transfer the goods to his own vehicle.
"They even carried a special plank to help them unload the goods
onto their vehicles," Gao said.
There would usually be another truck close behind to monitor the
steal, and a third vehicle to instruct the operation.
"If the driver of the targeted truck discovered the theft, the
suspects would just knock him out and continue to steal the goods,"
Ma said.
(China Daily January 18, 2008)