Eight Mongolians have been arrested in Hanoi for stealing the wallets of a Swedish couple and spending VND1.05 billion ($45,293) in credit, police said Saturday.

At around 12:50 a.m. on June 3, the Swedish couple was eating pho at a shop on Ly Quoc Su Street of Hoan Kiem District when their wallets got stolen. Upon returning to their hotel, they discovered that VND1.05 billion had been spent from their credit card.

Hoan Kiem police later identified seven Mongolians as prime suspects. The group flew from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City the same night to escape to Cambodia through the border. At around 1:30 a.m. on June 5, the seven were arrested at a hotel in Tay Ninh Province that borders Cambodia. One more member of the group was arrested the same night by border guards and delivered to police.

The group confessed they had entered Vietnam to travel and steal from other foreign tourists. They saw that the Swedish couple were eating, so they distracted them to steal their wallets.

After securing the wallets, they went to shops on Tran Nhan Tong Street and Trang Tien Plaza in Hanoi to buy gold and jewelry worth VND1.56 billion. They then sold some of the jewelry to another shop in the city to earn $21,000. They then flew to HCMC to plan their escape.

Police have seized around $20,100 and gold pieces as evidence.

Source: VNE