Beijing's public security continues to improve with the incidence of major crimes declining following crackdowns, a senior Beijing police official said yesterday.

Last year, major crimes including robbery, snatch theft, automobile theft and pickpocketing dropped by more than 5 percent from a year earlier, Ma Xichu, director of the criminal investigation department (CID) of the Beijing municipal public security bureau, said in a press release.

"Robberies carried out on motorcycles have been successfully curbed," Ma said, referring to the crime that has become rampant in many mainland Chinese cities since 2006.

The CID said it successfully busted 73,297 criminal cases of all kinds last year, up 11.6 percent from 65,705 the year before.

On Dec 22, Beijing police, with the help of police departments from Tianjin, Hebei and Liaoning, successfully broke a gang stealing polyethylene and polypropylene pellets on State roads and highways in the northeastern regions.

The pellets are two major ingredients in the production of plastic.

The operation was led by the Ministry of Public of Security and had lasted for a year.

Police arrested 59 suspects, detained 35 automobiles and confiscated more than 10 tons of the pellets as well as more than 100,000 yuan ($13,800) in cash.

"Among the suspects were a number of 'master hands' - skilled drivers and thieves jumping between trucks traveling on the roads and stealing the goods," Ma said.

The gang did not limit themselves to the pellets. They also targeted trucks loaded with goods such as mobile phones, chemicals and even refrigerators. They would follow their quarry and wait for nightfall or foggy weather before striking.

Gao Ming, director of the Yanshan division of the CID, described how such crimes on highways were carried out.

The suspects would drive up to their targeted trucks with their own vehicles' lights switched off.

A "master hand" would then jump onto the targeted truck and transfer the goods to his own vehicle.

"They even carried a special plank to help them unload the goods onto their vehicles," Gao said.

There would usually be another truck close behind to monitor the steal, and a third vehicle to instruct the operation.

"If the driver of the targeted truck discovered the theft, the suspects would just knock him out and continue to steal the goods," Ma said.

(China Daily January 18, 2008)