RM63m lost to metal thieves
Published on: Friday, April 18, 2008
SHAH ALAM: Police are going all out nationwide to nail syndicates behind the theft of metal parts from telecommunications and other public utility companies which have reported RM63 million in losses in the past two years. Police believe there are several big time syndicates that are paying big money to obtain the stolen metal parts from unscrupulous scrap metal dealers in the country. Over the years, metal parts, especially copper, which are used in power stations, telecommunication towers, cables, water meters and pipes, have been vandalised by thieves. ADVERTISEMENT The main culprits are usually drug addicts who steal the parts to get money for their fix as scrap metal is easily disposed of at the thousands of scrap metal dealers spread across the country. Between 2006 and last month, 3,233 cases of metal theft had been reported and police have solved 746 of them. Police CID chief Comm Mohd Bakri Zinin, who officiated at a forum at the DiGi Telecommunications headquarters in Shah Alam to announce new measures to combat such thefts, said the main initiative of the operation, code-named Ops Lusuh, is to hunt down the syndicate masterminds to put an end to their activities. He said apart from charging those nabbed with committing such thefts, police will also invoke the Emergency Ordinance to detain them should they escape court punishment due to legal technicalities. ADVERTISEMENT "Such thefts have become lucrative business. We may not have the logistics and manpower to check on each and every junkyard although we intend to do so, and that is why we have to nail the heads to see the rest of the syndication fails," he said, adding that police will also propose stiffer penalties to be meted out to syndicate members. Mohd Bakri said police also intend to control the issuance of scrap metal dealer licences and to come up with a list of items dealers are prohibited from buying in a move to contain the problem.
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He said there are about 7,650 registered scrap dealers and an equal number, if not more, illegal ones operating in the country. Ops Lusuh will also see two dozen other enforcement agencies, telcos and public utility companies working hand in hand with the police.