Hainan police have broken up a car-theft gang suspected of making away with as many as 200 cars worth 60 million yuan (US$7.2 million) during the past two years.

The ring is the biggest of its kind in south China's Hainan Province since 1949, said Haikou Municipal Bureau of Public Security officials at a press conference on December 26.

The gang is believed to have been responsible for nearly all of the thefts of high-end cars during the past two years in Haikou, the provincial capital.

So far, 46 suspects have been arrested and 82 cars recovered. Two guns were also seized, and two garages used to strip the stolen cars and change their license plates were found and closed.

The gang is suspected to have committed its first theft when a Honda was stolen from a parking lot in downtown Haikou in July 2002. By the time it was shut down, the group had taken a total of 200 cars of 12 different models.

Wen Zhineng, the first suspect, was arrested on October 27 this year. One car was recovered that day. Two days later, his brother, Wen Zhigang, was apprehended.

Over the next two months, police traveled to 12 provinces and autonomous regions, from Fujian in the east to Tibet in the west, to catch other gang suspects.

PSB officials state that Wen Zhineng admitted that he came to Haikou in 2002 after being released from prison, where he was serving a four-year term for auto theft. Wen was paroled after serving about two years of his sentence.

While Wen and other suspects stole the cars, others changed the appearance and identification numbers of the vehicles. After gang leader Li Qi arranged for the sales of the vehicles, other members delivered them throughout the country.

Local police believe other suspects are still at large. The investigation is continuing in an effort to catch them and retrieve more of the stolen cars.

(China Daily December 28, 2004)