HÀ NỘI — Hoàn Kiếm District Police on Tuesday announced they have arrested two Mongolian men for pickpocketing.

Altantuya Chigunjav, 30 and Sodtungalag Ankhbayar, 23, picked the pockets of foreigners in Hàng Đào and Hàng Gai wards in Hoàn Kiếm District on December 2 and 15.

Sodtungalag Ankhbayar admitted taking 13,000 Japanese yen (US$119) whereas Altantuya Chigunjav admitted taking $100 and VNĐ300,000 ($13). The police are conducting further investigations on the incident. 

They would target tourists in different spots around Hoàn Kiếm Lake. They also used stolen credit cards to buy gold and silver at jewellery shops.

Tống Văn Công, head of the Criminal Police Team under the Hoàn Kiếm Police, said recently, many foreigners had entered Việt Nam on tourist visas and then violated local laws.

Since the beginning of this month, the police had dealt with six cases of theft. One received an administrative fine, two were prosecuted and three were forced to return to their countries and banned from returning to the district.

Bùi Mạnh Chiến, deputy head of the Hàng Đào Ward Police, said the police had struggled to punish foreigners committing crimes, with difficulties in language.

Chiến proposed opening more training courses for the police officers, including foreign languages courses. — VNS