More than HK$2 million worth of luxury goods including Hermes bags have been stolen in a lightning raid on an accessories shop in Tsuen Wan’s Nina Tower shopping centre in Hong Kong.
Police are using CCTV footage to help them in their hunt for five members of a smash-and-grab gang after their three-minute raid on a store in a Hong Kong shopping mall on Friday, reports the South China Morning Post.
Armed with a sledgehammer and four shopping bags, the culprits broke into Vogue Station on the first floor of Nina Tower in Tsuen Wan about 6.30am, police say. The men snatched more than 20 Hermes handbags, along with several handbags from two other brands as well as wallets and other accessories, from several display cabinets. The raid coincided with a change in shift for the security guards, which meant fewer guards were on patrol.
A passerby noticed five men carrying “hard objects” and approaching the shop, and later found the glass door smashed so called the police. The windows of several display cabinets were also smashed.
Hong Kong had a series of smash-and-grab raids in 2014, the largest haul being that August when an Oriental Watch outlet at the Holiday Inn Golden Mile in Tsim Sha Tsui lost 240 Tudor watches worth a total of HK$6.5 million. A group of three was involved in the three-minute raid, leaving behind a sledgehammer and a shopping trolley.