Hong Kong and mainland Chinese police have arrested 33 people in a joint operation to crack down on a suspected credit card theft syndicate targeting city residents who travel across the border for leisure, with losses exceeding HK$1.8 million (US$229,500).

Superintendent Tsang Chun-kit of police’s crime Kowloon East Regional Headquarters said the syndicate had allegedly stolen Hongkongers’ credit cards in Shenzhen, and then immediately brought those cards back to the city to make purchases for resale as profit.

“All victims had been to tourist hotspots in Shenzhen for leisure before the crime happened. They didn’t check their personal belongings after the trip until banks notified them of abnormally large transaction records,” Tsang said.

The superintendent added that the Kowloon East regional technology and financial crime unit had exchanged intelligence with Shenzhen’s public security bureau and conducted an in-depth investigation before the agencies took separate enforcement action.

Hong Kong police had arrested 11 men and five women, aged between 17 and 45, in the city for the operation on suspicion of handling stolen goods, conspiracy to defraud and obtaining property by deception.

Those arrested locally included two core members of the syndicate, 13 runners known as “card carriers” and one employee of a second-hand electronic device shop. They were suspected of being involved in at least 60 reports involving stolen credit cards and losses over HK$1.8 million. The single case with the highest loss involved HK$110,000.

Mainland authorities arrested 11 men and six women, aged between 36 and 56, in Shenzhen for the operation. They were arrested for suspected theft and handling or hiding criminal proceeds.

Chief Inspector Fung Chi-tat of the regional technology and financial crime unit headquarters of Kowloon East said the syndicate was highly organised with a three-tier structure. The first layer of the syndicate’s operations involved hiring thieves and “card carriers”.

“They would use guest houses near border checkpoints in Shenzhen as a gathering spot for ‘card carriers’,” Fung said.

With runners in place, the syndicate would then arrange for supervisors, who would monitor the handover of stolen credit cards from the thieves to the “card carriers”. These supervisors would also travel between Hong Kong and the mainland to deliver stolen credit cards to “card carriers” and monitor their purchases.

The final layer of the syndicate’s modus operandi involved “card carriers” buying expensive mobile phones for resale to obtain cash. Fung added that the syndicate’s “card carriers” had also been instructed to sell mobile phones at a designated second-hand electronic device shop.

Senior Inspector Chow Ka-yun from the regional technology and financial crime unit of Kowloon East said city officers had been arresting suspected syndicate members between August and October.

Arrest operations included police intercepting suspected syndicate members outside MTR stations where supervised deliveries of stolen credit cards took place, shops where “card carriers” attempted to make purchases and the designated second-hand electronic device shop where “card carriers” sold the mobile phones they bought.

Hong Kong officers also confiscated 13 phones bought with the stolen credit cards, nine stolen cards and multiple receipts of relevant purchases.