"Pretending to Help, Stealing Wallets"... Police Arrest 33 During Nighttime Subway Patrols

Police conducted nighttime patrols on subway trains and apprehended 33 thieves.

A patrol activity to prevent theft in situations where bags are left unattended while dozing off. Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency.

On September 17, the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency’s Subway Police Unit announced that from around September last year to around August this year, they had arrested 33 suspects, including 18 for “assisted theft” (a method of stealing wallets from intoxicated passengers while pretending to help them), 8 for pickpocketing, and 7 for dealing in stolen goods. Of these, 15 were taken into custody.

On August 7, police arrested a foreign national in his 30s, referred to as A, who had stolen wallets from the bags of seven victims on a subway train. A is accused of stealing wallets twice on a train in June, leaving the country, then returning in August and stealing wallets three more times using the same method. He also made overseas purchases totaling 825,128 won using credit cards taken from the stolen wallets.

Police are intensively patrolling inside subway trains on lines that are particularly vulnerable to crime during nighttime hours. As a result, the number of 112 emergency calls regarding theft, robbery, and sex crimes on trains dropped sharply to 4,906 cases this year, a 17.6% decrease compared to the same period last year. Reports filed during late-night hours fell to 421 cases, a 28.4% decrease from the same period last year, and reports specifically from inside trains dropped from 202 last year to 131 this year, a 35.1% reduction. This year, there were 512 emergency calls related to theft or robbery in the subway system, down 14.2% from 597 cases last year.

A police official urged, “Please be especially careful with your belongings if you are dozing off or intoxicated on the subway during your nighttime commute.”

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