[Anchor]

A group has been arrested by police for targeting intoxicated and sleeping passengers on late-night subways to steal their mobile phones. To protect your phone on subways or buses, it is advised to avoid sitting at the edges of the car.

Reporter Kim Gyu-ri has the details.

[Reporter]

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

Police apprehended them, revealing a gang that stole and resold mobile phones from subways and other locations.

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 male receiver of stolen goods, surnamed C.

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

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

[Shin Chang-hoon / Head of Subway Safety and Investigation Unit, Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency: Because stolen phones can serve as evidence for phone thieves, 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 advising the public that falling asleep while intoxicated can make them a target.

[Choi Ga-yeon / Gangdong-gu, Seoul: I thought that only happened a lot overseas, and in Korea, people often leave their phones behind even in cafes...]

[Lee Ki-seon / Seongdong-gu, Seoul: I often doze off on the subway, and it's quite shocking to hear that things are being taken like that, and 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 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 reporting: Yang Ji-hoon | Video editing: Park Na-young | Design: Lim Chan-hyeok | Footage courtesy of: Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency)