A group of suspected thieves was nabbed by police in Ho Chi Minh City on Thursday night for allegedly stealing properties from visitors at the city’s iconic Nguyen Hue Flower Street.

Following repeated complaints of thefts and phone- and bag-snatching cases at the event, opening from January 25 to 31, District 1 police had tasked officers with going undercover to hunt for the thieves.

On Thursday night, two days before Tet, plainclothes officers spotted three women, one boy and one girl with suspicious behaviors and stopped them for investigation.

After checking their bags, police found a number of iPhones, cash, bags, ID cards and foreign bank cards.

The women fail to prove the origin of those assets.

The suspected thieves are Tran Thi Thuy Phuong, 35, Tran Thi Minh Nguyet, 43, Nguyen Thi Kim Anh, 27 and a 9-year-old boy and a 13-year-old girl, all hailing from the south-central province of Khanh Hoa.

Police are calling on victims to come to claim their stolen assets back.