A GROUP of shoplifters from Metro Manila were arrested for trying to steal clothes in a mall in Cebu City. (Contributed photo)
CEBU CITY – Police arrested a gang of notorious shoplifters from Metro Manila inside a mall here on Wednesday, July 9.
A 35-year-old woman was first to be apprehended by mall security when she tried to sneak out an unpaid pair of pants.
Following interrogation, the woman disclosed that she had eight companions still lurking in the mall. Her companions were arrested one after another, police said.
Seized from them were assorted apparel worth at least P100,000.
Police Lt. Col. Maria Theresa Macatangay, deputy city director for operations of the Cebu City Police Office, said that prior to their arrest, they received information that a group of shoplifters have arrived in this city.
They were the same people involved in mall thefts in Cagayan de Oro city and Iloilo City, Macatangay said.
Macatangay said the suspects belonged to an organized group who rented a place in the city.
She added that the suspects sell their loot in Metro Manila at half the price of the original amount.
According to mall security, the suspects had a way of leaving a store with their loot not being detected by the establishment’s alarm system.
Police said the group was caught when mall security noticed that one of them was acting suspiciously.
One of the suspects was monitored until she was spotted by security personnel tucking an unpaid item in her waist before trying to leave the mall.
Reporters tried to interview the suspects but they refused to comment on their arrest.