Four Vietnamese shoplifters nabbed in Singapore

Police in Singapore detained four Vietnamese nationals earlier this week for stealing high-end clothing from various shopping malls along Orchard Road, one of the busiest shopping areas in the island-state.

The group of petty thieves, including two men and two women aged 26-27, are accused of pilfering over 100 branded clothing items worth SGD10,000 ($7,500), Channel News Asia reported on Wednesday.

The arrest came after police authorities received “theft-in-dwelling” reports from many shopping centers in Singapore.

The alleged thieves will go on trial and if found guilty, face up to seven years behind bars, besides stiff fines.

This is not the first time Vietnamese people have been caught stealing in Singapore. In 2016, a group of five Vietnamese citizens were given jail terms of up to three years in prison for stealing goods valued around $12,600 from the ION Orchard shopping mall.

Vietnam ranked 9th among top 10 countries with the highest number of visitors traveling to Singapore in 2017, according to an annual tourism report by the Singapore Tourism Board.

More than 530,000 Vietnamese visited the country last year, up 13 percent against the same period a year earlier.