Police say they have locked up a gang of safe-crackers responsible for a recent crime spree.

Officers say they also recovered stolen items - including cash, digital cameras, laptops and luxury watches - when they rounded up the five suspected burglars.

The recovered property was returned to its rightful owners on Monday.

Police believe the gang was responsible for stealing 21,900 euros and 40,000 yuan as well as items including five laptops, digital cameras, luxury watches and gold ornaments worth up to 300,000 yuan.

The alleged gang was caught in southern Beijing's Economic-Technological Development Area (ETDA) on Aug 11.

Police believe the five were responsible for cracking a safe at a pharmaceutical enterprise in the ETDA on Aug 5.

Two laptops were taken along with the safe containing 70,000 yuan and 20,000 euros.

Two hours later, local police received another report that an enterprise in the ETDA had safes in its finance department hauled away. Only around 400 yuan was inside.

As a result of an investigation, police pulled over a suspect van and detained five suspects in two take-downs - in Beijing's Tongzhou district and Daxing district on Aug 11.

The van itself turned out to be stolen property and was believed to have been used to transport the stolen goods, according to the Criminal Investigation Department of Beijing Municipal Bureau of Public Security.

"The offenders took away the 50-kilogram safe in the first case, despite the fact that security guards were on duty on the night of the crime," said Jia Jianwen, vice-director of the Economic-Technological Development Area Branch of Beijing Municipal Bureau of Public Security.

"The noise did not alert the guards because they were too far away from the spot. This reflects a severe security deficiency in the enterprise's protection. Some companies even saved the money they might have spent on monitoring cameras and created an opportunity for burglaries."

The gang of five, who are in custody at present awaiting charges and trials, admitted to four cases of safe-cracking this year and confessed to a further five cases of burglaries last year, mainly in the capital's ETDA and Tongzhou district, police said.

Officers are now concentrating on trying to recover stolen items and reminding residents and business owners to guard against such burglaries.

Officers said companies should place large amounts of cash in banks instead of keeping them on business premises. Police also said companies should ensure cameras and security doors are used.

If burglars do target your home or business, police are reminding victims to protect the crime scene and immediately report the theft.