Fear of robberies heightens before Tet

Many people in Ho Chi Minh City told Tuoi Tre that they were very fearful of robberies that usually increase as Tet, or the Lunar New Year, approaches.
19-year-old Truong Ngoc Bao Han from District 10 said she remembered exactly what had happened to her on November 20.

“When I was driving on Ly Thuong Kiet Street, a man on his motorbike overtook me from behind and asked me the way to Nguyen Hue Street. I told him I did not know but the man kept driving close to my bike and then turned his vehicle to the right to block my bike,” Han recalled.

When Han stopped, the man said, “Give me some money for drugs.” Han was so terrified that she didn’t know what to do. The man then urged, “Hurry up! You will suffer if I pull my knife out…”

Han gave him VND150,000 (US$7.3), but the man asked her to give him her mobile phone that he had found in her purse from which she took the money out.

Many people in the Tran Hung Dao – Nguyen Trai Street area in District 5 also said they had been robbed in broad daylight.

48-year-old Cao Huu Minh, an employee of the Dong Da Trading and Entertainment Center, showed Tuoi Tre a sheet of paper on which he had taken notes of recent cases of robberies in the area.

“Most recently, on December 3, when a couple stepped out from Dai De Hotel, a youngster on a motorbike rushed to them and snatched the handbag containing VND3 million and a mobile phone from the woman’s hand.”

“Road of robberies”

A section of Nguyen Thuong Hien Street that crosses three districts, Go Vap, Binh Thanh, and Phu Nhuan, was called by locals as the “road of robberies”.

Suong, a woman living on the street, recalled, “I was standing at the counter of my shop when a young man drove a motorbike close to the shop and then snatched a gold necklace from my neck in the twinkling of an eye.”

Another local, Trang, said, “There was a case in which some robbers entered a hairdresser’s and threatened both the attendants and guests with sharp knives, forcing all to give them money and mobile phones.”

According to Dong Van Hung, head of the guard team of Quarter 1 in Go Vap’s Ward 1, said as Nguyen Thuong Hien Street crossed three districts, it was not easy to assign responsibility clearly among the local police forces when a robbery occurs. “Robberies have thus become increasingly serious,” Hung said.

Hung said gangsters usually wandered in the area to hunt for their preys.

A robber’s scenario

21-year-old Dang Ngoc Tuan who lives at Hamlet 606 on Ba Thang Hai Street in Ward 14, District 10, told Tuoi Tre about a “scenario” of a gang that had robbed a large quantity of mobile phone cards from his shop.

On the morning of November 23, a young man came to the shop asking to buy a phone card worth VND50,000. After the purchase, he stayed on to look at the list of the number of SIMs of mobile phones.

At this moment, two men came on a motorbike and stopped in front of the shop. They sat on their bike and asked to buy two VND150,000 cards.

They waved a VND500,000 banknote and asked Tuan to give them changes.

Tuan came out to give them the cards and changes. When he walked back to the shop, the first customer had disappeared along with all the cards worth VND43 million displayed on the counter.

21-year-old Tran Van Uoc said a week ago, someone broke into his rented room on Xo Viet Nghe Tinh Street, Binh Thanh District, and took a mobile phone, an earring, and a wallet containing VND800,000.

Vuong Liem, a resident in District 1, told Tuoi Tre that despite efforts of local authorities to crack down on criminal gangs, locals were still worried about going out.

According to Vo Van Sen, headmaster of the HCMC University of Social Sciences and Humanities and member of the city’s People’s Council, many residents are now worried about increasing organized criminal activities.
source: http://tuoitrenews.vn/cmlink/tuoitrenews/society/fear-of-robberies-heightens-before-tet-1.54162

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