Thieves Targeting Sleeping Passengers Arrested for Stealing Smartphones

[Anchor]

A ring of thieves has been arrested by police for targeting intoxicated and sleeping passengers on late-night subways to steal their smartphones. Authorities advise that avoiding the edges of subway cars can help protect your phone.

Reporter Kim Gyu-ri has the details.

[Reporter]

Late at night near a subway station in Seoul, two people exchange a bag containing something.

Upon their arrest by police, they turned out to be a gang that stole and fenced smartphones from locations such as the subway.

The crime was carried out in a manner where a man in his 60s, surnamed A, stole the phones and handed them over to a woman in his 70s, surnamed B, who then passed them on to a 40-year-old man surnamed C, a dealer of stolen goods.

Police stated that they primarily targeted the smartphones of passengers who were intoxicated or asleep during late-night hours.

At the time of their arrest, they were in possession of nine smartphones, four of which have been returned to their verified owners.

[Shin Chang-hoon / Chief of Subway Safety and Investigation Unit, Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency: In the case of mobile phone thieves, since the stolen phones can serve as evidence, they often hand them over to stolen goods brokers as quickly as possible, usually by the next day.]

All three suspects are habitual offenders. Police forwarded A and C to the prosecution in custody while urging caution, noting that falling asleep while intoxicated can make one a target.

[Choi Ga-yeon / Gangdong-gu, Seoul: I thought that sort of thing only happened a lot in foreign countries, and since people often leave their phones behind even in cafes in South Korea...]

[Yi Gi-seon / Seongdong-gu, Seoul: I doze off a lot on the subway, and it's quite shocking to hear that things are being taken like that. It makes me wonder if I need to be more careful.]

If you feel sleepy, it is safer to sit in the middle seats rather than near the edges, and keeping your phone stored inside a bag is safer than holding it in your hand.

Police stated that they are expanding their investigation to include distributors of stolen mobile phones.

(Video by: Yang Ji-hoon | Video Editing by: Park Na-young | Design: Im Chan-hyuk | Footage provided by: Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.