The picture shows: Luo Yongzheng teaching citizens anti-theft techniques on site. The picture also shows: the anti-theft alliance toolbox.
Chutian Golden Newspaper (Weibo) reports, by reporter Xia Zhonghua and intern Lu Dingfang:
At around 3 PM yesterday afternoon, a special anti-theft lecture was held in the meeting room of Wuhan No. 75 Middle School. The speaker was neither a police officer nor a technical staff member from a lock-picking company, but rather Luo Yongzheng, a former "notorious thief."
Luo Yongzheng, who stood on the podium at the age of 35, appears somewhat bookish at first glance, making it hard to imagine that he had been involved in theft for 13 years, stealing across both southern and northern China. In 2006, during one failed attempt, Luo Yongzheng was caught and served more than three years in prison. After being released, he did not return to his old ways but instead founded the "China Anti-Theft Alliance Association" and became a public welfare anti-theft promoter. What kind of psychological journey did Luo Yongzheng go through?
At the age of 16, he was lured into crime.
Born in 1977 in a small mountain village in Jinchengjiang, Hechi, Guangxi, Luo Yongzheng's parents were farmers. His mother passed away when he was one and a half years old, and his father died when he was 13. Subsequently, his two sisters got married. Luo Yongzheng, who had just started junior high school for less than two months, was forced to drop out of school. Two years later, in late 1992, under the introduction of a fellow townsman, Luo Yongzheng went to work as a punch press operator at a hardware factory in Guangzhou.
A few months later, one day, a coworker named Ahua invited him to help a fellow townsman "move house." A truck stopped under an apartment building, and under the direction of a "friend," Luo Yongzheng and a group of people quickly emptied the electrical appliances from the already opened room. After finishing, Ahua's fellow townsman gave Luo Yongzheng two hundred-yuan bills. "At that time, my monthly salary was only thirty or forty yuan, and seeing so much money was quite shocking," said Luo Yongzheng. He didn't realize that "moving house" meant helping someone steal things but thought that Ahua's fellow townsman was very generous. From then on, Luo Yongzheng would receive calls every few days from that fellow townsman inviting him to "move house." At the tender age of 16, Luo Yongzheng, seeing how easy it was to make money, went repeatedly.
Not only that, but that fellow townsman also took him out drinking and gambling, deliberately losing 100 yuan to Luo Yongzheng. However, afterward, Luo Yongzheng never won again and even owed the man over 1300 yuan in gambling debts. That person then told Luo Yongzheng that they were pickpockets, and the only way to repay the debt was through this method. "They set up a scheme to get me involved, probably because I was flexible in my work at the factory," said Luo Yongzheng. And thus, he was lured into the criminal world.
Thirteen years of theft without ever failing
"My first time stealing wasn't scary; it was exciting instead," Luo Yongzheng told reporters. One day in the spring of 1993, under the guidance of two experienced thieves, he began learning how to quickly pick locks and break into houses to steal. After learning seven or eight times, he could open half of the door locks quickly. More than a year later, his lock-picking skills improved significantly, becoming a key member of the theft gang, specializing in picking locks while others followed him to carry things.
Luo Yongzheng said that at the time, they used Guangzhou as their base, traveling north to Tianjin and south to Hainan Island, committing thefts everywhere. Speaking of Wuhan, he said, "It's a place where every thief must go; with developed transportation, we definitely came."
In 1997, due to the dismantling of his theft gang by the Guangzhou police, Luo Yongzheng fled to Hong Kong and was later deported. The following year, he recruited more than ten people and started a "thief company," dividing into groups after carefully selecting targets each day to commit thefts. During that time, they stole throughout the Pearl River Delta and Yangtze River Delta regions, earning an average of five to eight million yuan per day. "For 13 years, I've never failed," Luo Yongzheng proudly said. His skills were considered top-notch in the Pearl River Delta region. The most outrageous time was when he led his subordinates in a van, stealing from 36 households in one night. The largest theft amounted to over 600,000 yuan. He also emphasized that there are rules in thievery. Besides skill, they also had to use their brains and devise ways to steal items of greater value.
Luo Yongzheng recalled that once, while scoping out a shop, they discovered that the shop made over 100,000 yuan daily, and its warehouse contained goods worth over 300,000 yuan. They decided to "make a big move." However, after several unsuccessful attempts, they noticed that the shop owner took the cash home in a safe every night, locked the door behind them, and brought the safe back the next day. Therefore, breaking into the shop during the day and opening the safe was futile. Consequently, Luo Yongzheng purchased goods worth over 300,000 yuan from the shop owner. Once the owner took the safe home, the accomplice who had sneaked into the room beforehand successfully opened the safe and stole the money. Thus, the shop owner lost over 100,000 yuan in cash and goods worth over 300,000 yuan.
Serving three years in prison, writing the "Anti-Theft Handbook"
On March 13, 2006, Luo Yongzheng, the leader of the theft gang, met his downfall. That day, one of his trusted lieutenants was arrested by the Foshan police. Subsequently, Luo Yongzheng was captured and sentenced to four years in prison, serving his sentence in the Foshan Prison. In 2009, due to good behavior, Luo Yongzheng was released 10 months early.
After yesterday's lecture, Luo Yongzheng specially gifted the reporter a copy of the "Anti-Theft Handbook." "When I was taken to the police station for interrogation, six groups of citizens came to report thefts, all crying bitterly. It deeply moved me, and I realized how much harm my actions had caused others," Luo Yongzheng said. He felt extremely guilty on the day of his trial.
After being imprisoned, Luo Yongzheng saw many parents visiting their incarcerated children with sorrowful expressions. Realizing his mistakes, he visited other incarcerated thieves, learned different theft methods, and understood the habits of various "gangs." He compiled a nearly 200,000-word manuscript titled "Anti-Theft Handbook," which was published by Phoenix Publishing last October and made publicly available. He hoped that this book would teach people how to prevent theft in their daily lives.
Two years after being released from prison, he has become an internet sensation known for promoting anti-theft awareness.
After being released from prison, Luo Yongzheng did not return to his old ways but immediately wrote letters to major lock manufacturers nationwide, hoping they would adopt his suggestions and create products with superior anti-theft capabilities. Eventually, Lei Xianming, the boss of Jin Dian Company in Zhongshan, Guangdong, recognized Luo Yongzheng's skills and hired him as a consultant.
Subsequently, Luo Yongzheng established the "China Anti-Theft Alliance Association" and built a website to disseminate anti-theft knowledge. Over the past two years, he has traveled across the country, giving lectures on anti-theft knowledge in communities. Last year, a video of Luo Yongzheng demonstrating how to pick anti-theft locks using aluminum foil, featured in Anhui TV's "Aluminum Foil Lock Picking" special episode, went viral online, making him an internet sensation.
Determined to promote anti-theft awareness for the rest of his life
To date, more than 300 individuals and organizations across the country have joined the China Anti-Theft Alliance to engage in public welfare anti-theft promotional activities. However, such public welfare promotion has also attracted retaliation from others. Luo Yongzheng mentioned that during a speech in Sanshui, Foshan, his car was smashed. In Zhuhai, he received threats. "Perhaps it affected the livelihood of thieves and left no market space for some companies producing low-quality locks," Luo Yongzheng said. Even if he might encounter opposition from some people in the future, he is determined to continue promoting anti-theft awareness because it may be a cause for the rest of his life. "If the entire society understands the principles of theft, thieves will have no opportunities, and the number of theft cases nationwide is expected to decrease by half, so it is very significant," Luo Yongzheng explained the significance of his current career.