Hainan police crack large car-theft gang
By Huang Yiming, Huang Peiyue (China Daily)
Updated: 2004-12-28 01:30

A car-theft gang suspected of making away with as many as 200 cars worth 60 million yuan (US$7.2 million) has been cracked by Hainan police.

The ring is the biggest of its kind in South China's Hainan Province since 1949, the Haikou Municipal Bureau of Public Security officials said at a press conference on Sunday.

Car-theft suspect Zou Wenhua is escorted back to Haikou, capital of South China's Hainan Province, after the Hainan police cracked a large car-theft case. [newsphoto]

It covered nearly all of the expensive car-theft cases during the past two years in Haikou, the provincial capital.

So far, a total of 46 criminal suspects are under arrest, and 82 cars have been recovered.

Two guns were also seized.

Meanwhile, two garages used to strip the stolen cars and change their licence plates were found and closed.

The gang began to steal cars in July 2002, according to the Haikou Municipal Bureau of Public Security. A Honda was stolen at a parking lot in downtown Haikou in July 2002.

A total of 200 cars involved 12 models were stolen in total.

Wen Zhineng, was the first suspect arrested in October.A stolen car was found that day.

Another suspect, Wen Zhigang, shortly thereafter.

Afterwards, police travelled to 12 provinces and autonomous regions, including Fujian and Tibet, over two months to catch other gang suspects.

Wen admitted that he came to Haikou in 2002 after being released from prison.

Wen was sentenced to four years in prison in 2000 in Shenzhen of South China's Guangdong Province. He was set free before his sentence expired.

Wen and other suspected offenders such as Xia Zhansheng and Zou Wenhua stole cars in Haikou.

The stolen cars were sold by the principle offender of the gang Li Qi after the two garages transformed them.

Wu Yunji, Ye Dongyue and Li Zhongwen aided in moving the cars throughout the country.

Local police are further investigating the case in an effort to catch other suspects and to retrieve other stolen cars.

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