Man breaks into Myanmar jeweller by digging tunnel for 9 days, steals 4kg of gold, only manages to buy phone before getting caught

After spending nine days digging a tunnel, a man in Myanmar successfully broke into a gold jeweller and made off with 4kg worth of gold.

He only managed to buy a mobile phone with his spoils before he got caught three days later.

Collapsed sidewalk gave him the idea

Citing MeKong News, Shin Chew Daily wrote that the man's efforts bore fruit when he broke through the ground of the jeweller at about 5am on Sep. 28.

Based on surveillance footage shared by MeKong News, after breaking through, the man, wearing a headlamp and clad in black from head to toe, proceeded to rob the store while its shutters remained closed.

His success would not last long as he was nabbed by the police just three days later on Oct. 1.

The man, who worked at a car wash, told police that he would spend the day at work and go digging at night, except for when it rained.

He started digging on Sep. 15, and the tunnel took nine days to dig.

He said that the common modus operandi for local robbers was to break in through the front door or scale walls.

However, in 2024, following the collapse of a sidewalk, the man realised that the underwater piping system was rather spacious.

He noticed that the sidewalk near the jeweller had a similar underwater piping system.

These observations gave him the idea to commit the robbery by digging a tunnel into the jewellery store.

Unsure how much gold he took

The man said he was unsure exactly how much gold he had stolen.

The day after his crime, he sold 551g of gold for RMB840 (S$152) per gram and received a total of RMB463,000 (S$83,795).

He then hid RMB450,000 (S$81,442) in his cupboard and kept RMB13,000 (S$2,352) to spend, of which RMB2000 (S$361) was used to buy a mobile phone.

According to the jeweller, about 4kg of gold was stolen by the man.

Top image via MeKong News, Sin Chew Daily