Police break up bike theft ring

Taipei police yesterday broke a ring that stole more than 200 bicycles in the Taipei area.

Taipei police in Dazhi (大直) yesterday arrested eight suspects on suspicion of stealing the bicycles, ranging from standard models to top of the range ones worth NT$100,000.

Police said they had found a total of 212 bikes that were allegedly stolen by the suspects.

The main suspect, surnamed Lai (賴), directed young men from his ring to steal bicycles around the Taipei area, and then attempted to sell them to bicycle shops, the police said.

Police said they believed the suspects had stolen more than 1,000 bikes, selling some of them and taking the others apart to sell for parts.

People who reported the theft of their bicycles to the police were asked yesterday to make a trip to the police station in Dazhi and see if their lost bicycles were among the ones retrieved by the police.

Following notification from the police, a number of bike owners crowded the police station to hunt for their bikes, police said.

Police said they are now looking for bicycle shops which sold the stolen bicycles. Shop owners would be charged with offenses relating to illegally obtained property, police said.

In related news, Taichung police are using a global positioning system (GPS) to catch bike and motorbike thieves.

Police in Taichung City hit upon the idea after receiving complaints from people whose bikes and motorbikes were stolen from near Taichung railway station, the Broadcasting Corp of China (BCC) reported.

Police installed the GPS under the seats of several bikes and motorbikes and parked them near the railway station as bait for the potential thieves.

So far the city's police have arrested three men who stole the GPS bikes, the BCC said.

Additional reporting by DPA