SINGAPORE: Four Chinese nationals were charged in Singapore on 10 August 2025 with possessing housebreaking tools, following a police manhunt along the Rail Corridor in Bukit Timah.
The arrests came after coordinated operations involving multiple police units, which targeted suspects believed to be linked to foreign syndicates.
According to the Singapore Police Force (SPF), the accused are He Jiao, 38; Zhou Qifa, 36; Yang Chao, 41; and Zhou Yinggui, 36.
All four are from Guizhou province, China.
They entered Singapore on social passes on 8 August 2025, allegedly travelling from Malaysia via the Woodlands Checkpoint.
For three of the men, this was not their first visit to Singapore, police said.
Assistant Commissioner of Police Serene Chiu, commander of the Clementi Division, stated that the men are suspected to be connected to other housebreaking cases reported between April and July this year.
On the day of their arrival, police conducted an operation in forested areas near the Rail Corridor and Bukit Timah Road.
Officers had noted that suspects often used these areas to conceal movement during housebreaking attempts.
The operation involved the Clementi Police Division, Police Operations Command Centre, Police Intelligence Department, Gurkha Contingent, Special Operations Command, and the Home Team Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Command.
Two suspects were arrested on 8 August in the Rail Corridor area.
A third was detained later that night at a mall near Clementi, and the fourth was apprehended the next morning at a hotel in Geylang.
Police seized various housebreaking tools, including screwdrivers and spanners, along with clothing and more than S$400 (US$296) in cash.
Officers said the cash was likely the suspects’ own, and there was no evidence they committed a crime before their arrests.
All four suspects have been remanded, with police granted permission to take them out for investigative purposes.
If convicted, they could face fines and up to two years in prison.
10 housebreaking cases reported Between early June and August 2024
Between June and August 2024, ten housebreaking cases were reported in private estates near the Rail Corridor and Bukit Timah Road.
Stolen goods from these incidents were valued at S$3.85 million, with some cases linked to foreign syndicates.
Earlier in April, three additional housebreaking cases were reported in the same vicinity.
In one case, no items were taken, but in the other two, valuables worth about S$60,000 were stolen.
AC Chiu noted that the four men arrived at the Rail Corridor around the same time on the day of the operation, despite approaching from different directions, suggesting possible coordination.
Police have stepped up preventive measures in private residential estates since June 2024, including additional police cameras, more frequent patrols, and regular engagement with residents.
Residents have been urged to install CCTV and alarm systems and to report any suspicious activity to police immediately.
The SPF stressed that it “will spare no effort to apprehend offenders and deal with them to the fullest extent of the law”.
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