Subway Drunk Targets Phone 'Snatch'... From Theft to Fence, All Caught in One Sweep

Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency Arrests 13 Members of Theft and Stolen Goods Ring
Including a Man in His 70s Involved in Stolen Goods Transactions

A gang of fence operators who habitually sold stolen mobile phones along with thieves in the Seoul metropolitan area to China, the Philippines, and other countries were caught by the police. The thieves targeted intoxicated individuals mainly in subway stations and platforms to steal their phones and hand them over to the fence operators. Among the fence operators was even a woman in her 70s. The police arrested them after more than 80 days of surveillance and tracking.

On the 25th, the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency’s Subway Police Unit announced that on the 18th, they arrested a total of 13 people including mobile phone fence operator Mr. A (charged with receiving stolen goods), intermediary Mr. B, fence operator Mr. C (charged with facilitating and receiving stolen goods), and the thieves who handed over the stolen phones to them. Among them, 8 people including Mr. A and Mr. C were detained, and 6 of them are expected to be handed over to the prosecution within the day.

The Subway Police Unit arrested a total of 13 individuals, including Mr. A, who purchased mobile phones from professional thieves, as well as fence brokers and thieves, from March to October this year.
[Photo by Yonhap News]

Mr. A’s group bought phones from professional thieves for over six months from March until the 16th of this month. According to the police, Mr. A is a woman in her 70s who runs a street stall and was known among thieves as a prominent fence operator.

A police official explained, "To dispose of stolen phones, one inevitably has to connect with fence operators. Mr. A has multiple prior convictions related to stolen goods and was introduced through a network formed between thieves and fence operators." It was reported that Mr. A stated she committed the crimes to cover living expenses.

Mr. B received phones from Mr. A and passed them to the wholesaler Mr. C, who either shipped the goods to China through peddlers or directly traveled to the Philippines to smuggle them out. A police official said, "Besides Mr. A, other members of the group have prior convictions for receiving stolen goods ranging from at least two to seven offenses."

The number of identified victims has reached 51 so far

They attempted transactions in blind spots without closed-circuit (CC) TV installations and residential areas in the Seoul metropolitan area, including Seoul and Suwon, using late-night and early-morning hours to evade police pursuit. It was also investigated that they used Telegram to destroy evidence and conducted transactions by leaving stolen goods in warehouses and instructing buyers to pick them up.
[Photo by Seodongmin]

During this process, it was revealed that Mr. C transferred about 100 million KRW to Mr. B as payment for the stolen goods, and Mr. B then sent about 90 million KRW to Mr. A, indicating transactional relationships. A police official said, "We plan to conduct additional forensic investigations on Mr. C to examine whether there are further crimes involved." According to the police, the number of victims identified so far has reached 51.

To evade police tracking, they attempted transactions during late night and early morning hours in blind spots without CCTV coverage and residential areas in Seoul, Suwon, and other metropolitan areas. They also used Telegram to destroy evidence and conducted transactions by storing stolen goods in warehouses and arranging pick-ups.

Additionally, the fence organization Mr. C belonged to sent "phishing messages" to unlock Apple iPhone models. A police official explained, "If an iPhone is unlocked and reset to factory settings, its market value as stolen goods increases by about 30-40%. They exploited the fact that victims often activate new phones with the same number and sent phishing texts to steal Apple IDs and passwords."

The police will continue investigations into additional crimes, including forensic examinations of Mr. C. The Subway Police Unit emphasized, "We will actively investigate crimes such as thefts occurring in the subway and relentlessly pursue not only the thieves but also the fence operators."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.