Beauty queen falls prey to ‘pretty’ pickpockets

A visiting balikbayan lost at least P200,000 in cash and valuables to all-women gang of pickpockets in a mall in Divisoria, Manila the other day.

Jane Keller, 49, of Daly City, California reported to the police that she lost her clutch bag containing P15,000, $2,000, a diamond ring, a pair of earrings, her US passport and credit cards worth P170,000. She once was crowned Mrs. Philippines in a US beauty pageant.

Keller said she was shopping alone at the 168 Shopping Mall when a “pretty” woman befriended her. Soon, she was chatting with four other “equally pretty” women.

When the women left, Keller noticed that her handbag was lighter and when she looked inside she found that her clutch bag was missing.

Meisic police station chief Superintendent Nelson Yabut dubbed the suspects the “Sex Bomb Gang,” notorious for robbing unsuspecting customers in crowded malls. The 168 Mall is a popular shoppers’ haven in Divisoria due to its low prices.

Yabut said an average of three to five shoppers are victimized daily by pickpocket gangs at the 168 Mall. He lamented the failure of mall officials to curb the crimes, except to post photos of suspected pickpockets at the mall’s entrance.

“It is the duty of the guards to roam around the building to prevent the criminals from doing their illicit trade,” he said.

Yabut also requested the district headquarters if he could form a task group specifically to protect and secure Chinese-Filipino traders, the favorite targets of criminals.

“I have requested for additional police detectives as augmentation force especially with the coming of the ‘ber’ season,” Yabut said.  – Nestor Etolle