Car theft and house break-in syndicate smashed by cops
Published on: Friday, September 09, 2016
Kota Kinabalu: A car theft and house break-in syndicate which gained notoriety for its expertise in stealing vehicles was finally crippled with the arrest of eight local suspects here.Twelve cases involving loss of properties worth RM500,000 in the city and Penampang have also been solved following the arrest of the Geng Ninzhi members who thrived on their expert ability to replicate car keys in a short time. City Police Chief ACP M. Chandra said the five jobless men and three women aged between 18 and 33 were arrested between August 28 and Sept 1, including a 33-year-old Chinese man who was the mastermind and wanted for similar cases in several districts in Sabah.
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The syndicate had been active for a long time, selling their loot along Sabah's border with Sarawak and Indonesia as well as in plantations, but lay low until April this year when they resurfaced and committed the offences. "Our preliminary investigation showed that there were two modus operandi for the syndicate. First, they would only steal certain types of vehicles and vehicle parts based on demand and requests of 'middlemen'."So they would identify the model of the vehicles in demand and use a tool to remove the key area of the vehicles' bonnet and make a replica of the car key in less than 10 minutes to open the door on the driver's side using the replica key and if the car alarm went off, they would disable the alarm quickly before fleeing the scene.
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"The syndicate would steal the vehicles in less than half an hour which showed how expert they are in stealing vehicles," he told a press conference, Thursday. Also present were Chandra's deputy, Supt Mohd Azhar Hamin, and City Police Crime Investigation Department head DSP Azizulkifli Mansor.
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Chandra said the syndicate also had the expertise to break into houses to steal cars that are normally luxury vehicles such as 4WDs and would also steal items from the houses like cash, laptops, and wristwatches, among others.He said all the suspects tested positive for drugs and that five males had previous convictions, including for stealing vehicles and drug abuse.He said the suspects are being investigated under Section 457 of the Penal Code for house breaking, Section 379A of the Penal Code for stealing vehicles and their parts.Chandra said police seized a white Proton Wira which was reported missing and two cars which were not reported missing but their parts were found to have been taken from stolen vehicles.Police are now tracking down two more men – one Sarawakian and a local believed to be the middleman for the syndicate."The first suspect is known as Bali or Low Hui Chuong, 56 with his last address at Sibu, Sarawak and Wong King Tung, 39 with his last address at Tuaran road, near here," he said.He also disclosed that 55 cases of car theft were registered as of August compared to 57 over the corresponding period here last year.In another case, city police have foiled a group specialising in housebreaking and selling stolen items known as "Geng Bongsu" after arresting six men following a police report by a bank staff, in his 30s, from Telipok on Aug 17.Chandra said the complainant lost two digital cameras, two camera flashes, an iPad and several camera accessories.Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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