From left, Jose Aureliano Rosas Pena, Luis Alexander Rodriguez Cuevro, Jersain Ladino Cardona, Carlos Alberto Lamprea Pena, and Fabian Lucero Wilches. (Photo courtesy of the Hanoi Department of Police)
They are Fabian Lucero Wilches, 36, Jersain Ladino Cardona, 52, Jose Aureliano Rosas Pena, 56, Carlos Alberto Lamprea Pena, 48, and Luis Alexander Rodriguez Cuevro, 41.
According to the indictment, the men met while travelling in Laos and Cambodia in 2017. They then regularly contacted each other via the messenger application Whatsapp and decided to come to Vietnam to steal from people who had just left banks or currency exchange shops.
After following the victims, the thieves punctured their vehicle’s tires with a knife, forcing them to go to repair shops to replace the tires.
They took advantage of the time the victims had their tires repaired to steal gold and cash worth 465 million VND (20,460 USD) from Nguyen Van Ngoc in Hoan Kiem district on February 22, 2017 and 1.6 billion VND (70,400 USD) from Pham Van Binh in Dong Da district on March 28, 2017.
At the investigation agency, the five men reportedly confessed to the crime.
