Hong Kong police have arrested two burglars and recovered HK$700,000 (US$89,600) worth of traditional Chinese medicine and dried seafood products stolen from a newly opened shop in the city’s bustling Tsim Sha Tsui shopping district.
The burglary occurred at around 5.40am on Monday when the two men broke into the ground floor unit of Zhang Bao Guo Yao Tang, a shop on Hankow Road, triggering a security alarm, police said.
The security alarm alerted the shop’s security company, which immediately called police and notified the shop owner.
The owner said he had checked his shop’s CCTV using a phone app and saw, in real time, two men wearing hats and face masks inside the store.
“They were walking leisurely around inside, looking as if they were shopping in a supermarket,” he said.
He added that the two burglars emptied several jars that contained bird’s nest and caterpillar fungus and also took expensive traditional Chinese medicine from the shop, which had opened just last month.
A source familiar with the case said the two suspects had fled with HK$700,000 worth of traditional Chinese medicine and dried seafood products before police arrived.
He said officers searched the area and caught the two suspected burglars with the stolen goods in an alley in the vicinity, less than 100 metres (328 feet) away from the shop.
The source added that officers were investigating whether the pair had broken into the shop through the rear door.
According to police, the intruders, aged 59 and 61, were detained on suspicion of burglary – an offence punishable by up to 14 years in prison under the Theft Ordinance.
Detectives from the Yau Tsim criminal investigation unit are following up on the case.
In the first five months of this year, police handled 604 reports of burglary across the city, an increase of 37.3 per cent from 440 cases recorded in the same period in 2023.
Police figures showed the number of burglaries rose by 52.8 per cent to 1,354 last year, up from 886 in 2022.
