By Kwon Mee-yoo
Staff Reporter
Police arrested a group of thieves for stealing car navigation systems in locations across the nation Friday.
The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency apprehended three people for stealing the devices and six for purchasing and re-selling the stolen equipment.
The gang stole the systems, valued at 600,000 won ($467) each, and a laptop from a Grandeur car early in the morning on March 24 in Bongcheon-dong, southern Seoul. They opened the car door by using a plastic measuring stick.
Using the same technique, they stole about 200 devices, worth a combined 120 million won, since January in various regions including Seoul, Daejeon and Gangneung.
They turned out to have come from the same village and they ``specialized'' in stealing from cars parked in deserted residential areas during the night or early morning.
``They learned how to open locked car doors using plastic rulers when they were working at an automobile service center. It took only three seconds to open it for them,'' a police officer said. ``They only took away navigators of a certain company which have a big secondhand market because it does not require a serial number to upgrade the software.''
The other six charged bought the systems and other valuables at 1/10th of their regular prices and re-sold them, earning in the region of 6 million won.