Five men arrested for stealing 100 cars in Hanoi

[ASEAN NOW News]

Stolen cars seized by police in Hanoi, June 2021. Photo courtesy of the police.

 

Police have arrested five men, aged between 27-32years old, for stealing nearly one hundred cars from several car parks all over Hanoi.

 

Apparently according to media reports, Le Hoang Dat, 30, a Hanoi resident, has been identified as the ringleader.

 

Dat got involved in car theft after suffering a heavy cryptocurrency loss, plunging him into debt.

 

He had stolen cars from different parking lots across the capital.

 

Posed as Owners

 

Dat realized that many car owners usually chose to leave their keys with security, sot on several occasions he was able to convince the guards that he was the actual owner of a certain parked vehicle.

 

Normally, he would wait until the guards swapped shifts before acting.

 

Since the new guard would be unacquainted with the original owner’s face, Dat would ask him for the key.

 

At this point, he would pick a random key before entering the parking area, where he pressed the button to find which car would respond and drive away.

 

The gang would pawn each stolen car at a pawnshop run by Nguyen Thanh Cong, 32, who also resides in Hanoi.

Cong hired Nguyen Huu Tu, 28, and Nguyen Huu Trung, 27, both living in Hanoi, to take care of the necessary paperwork.

 

Nguyen Ngoc Ha, 32, who lives in northern Hai Duong Province, took charge of later selling the stolen cars.

 

Cong even operated seven parking lots and six warehouses at different locations to store the pawned vehicles.

 

To date, police have discovered nearly 100 stolen cars among Cong’s warehouses, and they are expanding the investigation.

 

The number of missing cars could rise significantly, as more and more car owners come forward to report their own missing vehicle.