Hong Kong police arrest 2 suspects behind HK$40 million luxury watch robbery in Tsim Sha Tsui shopping district
“We believe this man posed as a customer to get the staff to unlock the front door,” the insider said. “Seconds after he entered the shop, four robbers immediately stormed into the store before the door was closed.”
He said the two suspects were being held in Tsim Sha Tsui police station for questioning as of midday on Wednesday.
A video posted online shows an unmasked man wearing a white long-sleeve shirt bolting out of the shop immediately after the gang entered.
In the video, two of the four masked robbers in hoodies smashed a display counter with two sledgehammers once inside the shop. Police said the other men threatened two staff members with knives.
The video also shows the robbers were locked inside the shop initially when they tried to run out. One used a sledgehammer to smash the glass door before they made their escape.
According to police, the gang fled in a getaway car driven by another suspect.
“A total of 25 watches with an estimated value of about HK$40 million were stolen in the robbery,” the force said in a press release issued at 11.24pm on Tuesday.
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The watches stolen included Swiss brands such as Richard Mille and Patek Philippe, the Post learned. One Richard Mille timepiece had a price tag of more than HK$4 million.
Police said the four masked robbers were non-Chinese men and thought to be aged between 20 and 25.
Alpha Watch and Jewellery is the fourth watch store targeted by robbers in Tsim Sha Tsui in nine months.
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The latest case follows one on September 11, in which three robbers stormed into the VIP Station store on Canton Road, broke the glass of the display counters and fled with HK$3.7 million worth of watches. They escaped in a getaway car driven by a fourth suspect.
Over the first nine months of this year, police handled 75 robbery reports, an increase of 33.9 per cent from 56 cases logged during the same period in 2022.