Police in the northern Vietnamese province of Quang Ninh announced the arrest of three men and one woman on Tuesday night for stealing electric cables from the Van Don - Mong Cai Expressway.

Vu Van Quan, 34, Tang Quay On, 33, Nguyen Van Thach, 31, and Mai Thi Hue, 38, were arrested for the theft.

The investigation into the case showed that the most recent theft was carried out by Quan and On on the night of September 1, when they broke into the construction site of Cai Bau Bridge in Van Don District, which is part of the Van Don - Mong Cai Expressway, to steal electric cables. 

The two men pulled the electric coils to a mangrove area next to the construction site, operated by Huy Hoang Company, then used foam boards to transport them to the other end of the bridge in order to transfer them to a buyer.

Quan and On had offered the electric cables for sale to Thach, who runs a scrap collection warehouse, in advance and had the latter let them borrow a vehicle to facilitate the transportation.

Thach paid Quan and On about VND25 million (US$1,060) for 350kg of stolen electric cables, and resold the amount to Hue for VND33 million ($1,400) on September 2.

During the investigation, police officers in Quang Ninh also conducted an urgent inspection at Thach’s warehouse.

The group admitted to sneaking into several construction sites of the Van Don - Mong Cai Expressway to steal materials and scrap for sale since July. 

Besides Huy Hoang Company, An Phu Company, the contractor of electric cable installation on another section of the route, said it recorded similar thefts between March and August 20.

Local media started reporting on the thefts with 3,000 meters of missing cables last week, shortly after the expressway was opened to traffic on September 1.

The probe into the case is ongoing.

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