Published on ShanghaiDaily.com (http://www.shanghaidaily.com/)
http://www.shanghaidaily.com/sp/article/2008/200811/20081119/article_381188.htm
Cops crack stolen-chips case
Created: 2008-11-19 1:30:55
Author:Liang Yiwen
PUDONG New Area police have caught three suspects who allegedly stole computer chips worth US$1.75 million from a warehouse in the Waigaoqiao Free Trade Zone.
The goods were recovered, and the 26 boxes holding 9,360 computer chips were returned to the owner, Schenker Logistics (Shanghai) Co Ltd, yesterday.
Three other suspects were also caught for allegedly receiving stolen goods.
It was Pudong's first such case involving the theft of goods worth than 10 million yuan (US$1.47 million), according to police.
The HP mobile technology computer chips, imported in July, were removed through a hole in the warehouse wall on November 11. The suspects were caught two days later.
After checking video surveillance records, police learned that a minibus entered the company gate with its lights off and an obscured license tag at midnight and left about 1:38am. But warehouse cameras failed to show the theft, and there was no guard on duty that night.
Police thought the thieves worked for the company because they seemed know the cameras' blind spots and the schedule of the guards.
In addition, the thieves zeroed in on the high-value computer chips.
After investigating the 97 workers of the company one by one, police became suspicious of a 35-year-old worker surnamed Yan from Shanxi Province who drove a forklift in the warehouse.
All the workers except Yan said that they knew about the blind areas of the monitoring cameras. Yan couldn't provide an alibi for the night of the theft. Police also found that Yan was overdrawn at the bank. And warehouse workers said Yan liked to gamble and often borrowed money to cover his debts.
Meanwhile, police began looking for deals involving illegal computer chips and found products from the same batch that had been stolen when they interviewed a man in Baoshan District.
The man claimed he bought the chips from a Mr Li about 5pm on November 11 in Pudong New Area. Police showed him pictures of the worker Yan, and the informant identified him as the seller.
Police monitored Yan and caught his two alleged accomplices, a 27-year-old man surnamed Li from Anhui Province and a 31-year-old man surnamed Wang.
Police said they had also caught three other men they said were responsible for receiving the stolen goods.
The goods were recovered, and the 26 boxes holding 9,360 computer chips were returned to the owner, Schenker Logistics (Shanghai) Co Ltd, yesterday.
Three other suspects were also caught for allegedly receiving stolen goods.
It was Pudong's first such case involving the theft of goods worth than 10 million yuan (US$1.47 million), according to police.
The HP mobile technology computer chips, imported in July, were removed through a hole in the warehouse wall on November 11. The suspects were caught two days later.
After checking video surveillance records, police learned that a minibus entered the company gate with its lights off and an obscured license tag at midnight and left about 1:38am. But warehouse cameras failed to show the theft, and there was no guard on duty that night.
Police thought the thieves worked for the company because they seemed know the cameras' blind spots and the schedule of the guards.
In addition, the thieves zeroed in on the high-value computer chips.
After investigating the 97 workers of the company one by one, police became suspicious of a 35-year-old worker surnamed Yan from Shanxi Province who drove a forklift in the warehouse.
All the workers except Yan said that they knew about the blind areas of the monitoring cameras. Yan couldn't provide an alibi for the night of the theft. Police also found that Yan was overdrawn at the bank. And warehouse workers said Yan liked to gamble and often borrowed money to cover his debts.
Meanwhile, police began looking for deals involving illegal computer chips and found products from the same batch that had been stolen when they interviewed a man in Baoshan District.
The man claimed he bought the chips from a Mr Li about 5pm on November 11 in Pudong New Area. Police showed him pictures of the worker Yan, and the informant identified him as the seller.
Police monitored Yan and caught his two alleged accomplices, a 27-year-old man surnamed Li from Anhui Province and a 31-year-old man surnamed Wang.
Police said they had also caught three other men they said were responsible for receiving the stolen goods.
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