A Chinese man attempted a “Trojan horse” trick to infiltrate a residential building and steal gold worth 200,000 yuan (approximately RM126,000 or US$28,000) but was caught within a week.
The 46-year-old man, surnamed Zhao, concealed himself in a wooden box and hired a delivery worker to transport the crate into the exit passageway of a building in central China’s Hunan province on October 9, hoping to evade surveillance cameras.
Once inside, Zhao climbed out of the box and followed a woman returning home, claiming he was there to “recover a debt.” He then forced her to open her safe, stealing gold items totaling 230 grams valued at over 200,000 yuan (RM126,000) along with 2,000 yuan (RM1,260) in cash.
To prevent her from alerting anyone, Zhao forced the woman to take sleeping pills. After she passed out, he spent about four hours cleaning the flat to remove evidence before returning to the wooden box and calling another delivery service to take the crate away.
The woman regained consciousness a few hours later and immediately contacted the police. A large-scale investigation ensued, involving over 50 officers reviewing surveillance footage and interviewing witnesses, but initially yielded few leads.
Eventually, investigators uncovered that Zhao had entered the building hidden in the wooden box. They tracked him, a local from Hunan who was living in Zhejiang province.
On the night of October 18, police arrested Zhao and recovered the stolen gold. Zhao admitted that his “Trojan horse” tactic was inspired by television dramas and expressed surprise at how quickly authorities located him.
Zhao is now in criminal custody, and the delivery workers involved were not held accountable. The origins of the delivery or the costs associated with transporting the box remain undisclosed.
“Today’s technologies are so advanced that it is nearly impossible to commit a crime without being caught,” one online commenter remarked. Another joked, “Considering that he travelled from Zhejiang to Hunan to commit the crime, perhaps the four hours he spent in the flat was just the time he needed to wait for the train.”
