China's Largest Gold Theft Case Solved: 27 kg of Gold Fully Recovered, Mastermind Used Gold Bars to Pay for Car Expenses

BlockBeats News, June 22. The Nanjing police in China recently announced the complete solution of the largest domestic gold theft case to date, with all 11 suspects captured and all 27 kilograms of stolen gold recovered.

In the early morning of May 16, 2026, a luxury store in Nanjing's Jiangning District was the target of a meticulously planned theft. The main culprit, Tong, entered the building from the second floor window, took a total of 37 gold products weighing 27 kilograms with a market value of over 27 million yuan, and completely ignored the adjacent luxury watches. His accomplice, Wang, had previously entered the control room, shut down nearly 80 surveillance cameras, formatted all data, and then flew to Bangkok to act as a "remote director." The crime scene's door lock was intact, and the surveillance data was wiped clean, initially leaving the police in a fog of investigation.

The Nanjing task force restored the surveillance data, tracked public videos, and retraced Tong's escape route by taking a ride-hailing service from Nanjing heading south. According to the driver's account, Tong appeared anxious during the journey, changed destinations multiple times, and upon reaching Nanning, was unable to pay the over 7,000 yuan fare. Surprisingly, he broke off half of a 50-gram gold piece from his bag to settle the bill.

In the early hours of May 18, the border police station in Aidian, Chongzuo, Guangxi, received an urgent assistance request from the Nanjing police. Within 3 minutes, the civilian police completed assembly and precise control measures. At 5:40 am, a white Jetta sedan was intercepted just a hundred meters from the Sino-Vietnamese border, and Tong was captured on the spot, carrying 8.75 kilograms of gold. From the alert to the capture, the whole process took less than half an hour.

On May 23, the mastermind Wang was arrested in Bangkok and extradited back to China, with 13.2 kilograms of gold seized from his residence. The two unrelated high-educated gamblers, Tong, a hospital worker, and Wang, a software company development manager, turned to crime due to deep involvement in online gambling debts (ranging from millions to tens of millions of yuan), ultimately falling afoul of the law.