Fremont City Police near San Francisco Bay, California, have just arrested 9 suspects related to a cross-border theft and electronic consumption ring, Fremont Police announced in a press release on January 31.
After a series of breaches and thefts at parking lots along shopping malls in the Bay area, over the past two months, Fremont police have tracked and exposed this criminal ring. In a covert operation on December 8 last year, police discovered a warehouse in San Jose, California, filled with electronic devices suspected to be stolen goods.
At the scene, police said the electronic items were loaded into containers "commonly used for transportation by sea". After the search, the police seized "more than 900 electronic devices such as laptops and tablets", worth about 1 million USD. The goods were later identified as stolen goods and were preparing to be transported to Vietnam.
Expanding the investigation, local police discovered a large-scale theft ring perpetrated by street gangs. The method of operation of criminals is often to break into cars in parking lots and take laptops, smartphones and tablets that the owner has inside.
"These criminals are active in Las Vegas, Nevada, Los Angeles and all the bay areas of San Francisco," CBS quoted Lieutenant Michael Tegner, a Fremont City Police officer, as saying. "This is an organized and complicated criminal ring."
According to Mr. Tegner, items stolen by street criminals are gathered in a few units and then transported to be resold on the black market in Vietnam.
On January 25, in a joint operation between the police and the airport customs, US authorities arrested two subjects who were planning to board a plane to return to Vietnam. Police found about 300 electronic devices suspected to be stolen in 18 suitcases of these two suspects.
On the same day, the police continued to arrest 7 more people and seized more than 700 items. The total value of the seized exhibits was approximately 2 million USD.
According to Mercury, among the captives were four living in San Jose, California. Hung Can On, 51, charged with possessing objects of unknown origin; Benjamin Quoc Pham, 40, faces charges of colluding with Huong Tran, 31, for buying a laptop to steal at parking lots in Little Saigon. As for Luan Huynh, 30 years old, who was accused of unloading stolen goods onto a truck running towards Oakland port to transport abroad.
The investigation is still ongoing.
