Across China: Chongqing

Thieves arrested

Three middle-aged women in a theft gang in Bishan county, Chongqing, were arrested on Tuesday, the local police said.

The detainees, who belonged to a five-women gang, had allegedly been stealing in local malls for a long time and had never been caught. One or two of them would pretend to be shopping, talking with the salespeople to distract them, while the others filched goods ranging from toothbrushes to clothing and hid them in their bags or baskets.