KenaSaman.com

SHAH ALAM: Police have seized more than 1,000 vehicle parts worth tens of millions of ringgit at a godown in Perak and arrested 12 members of a syndicate.

But the parts were just a fraction of what had been cannibalised from stolen vehicles.

According to the police, an average of 150 vehicles a day have been stolen across the country since 2010.

Selangor police chief Datuk Tun Hisan Tun Hamzah said three suspects were arrested in Rawang last Thursday when they were trying to steal a lorry.

Another was arrested in Sabak Bernam.

They led a raiding party to a godown at Simpang in Perak on Saturday where eight more suspects were picked up.

Police recovered 1,101 lorry engines, 102 car engines and hundreds of cars and lorries which had been stripped bare.

Four of the suspects were Bangladeshis and the rest Malaysians, including a woman, Tun Hisan told reporters here yesterday.

Police have said that vehicle theft involves several syndicates working in tandem, each avoiding direct contact with the others, thus making it difficult to cripple their operations.

Different syndicates are involved in stealing a vehicle, moving it and cannibalising parts or selling it either in the country or overseas.

The older vehicles are cannibalised while the new models are usually exported to neighbouring countries as well as Europe and Africa. Four-wheel drives are reported to be especially in demand in the Middle East because of the desert conditions.

Referring to the latest case, Tun Hisan believed that the syndicate had been active for at least 13 years because one of the lorries recovered had been reported missing in 1999.

He said that police learned of the syndicate after arresting several of its members last year under the Emergency Ordinance.

The suspects have since been charged.

Tun Hisan said police were trying to trace the owners of the vehicles and engines which were still intact.

In a related development, police recovered stolen lorry cabins worth more than RM100,000 during a raid at a workshop in Changkat Jering, Perak.

Perak police chief Deputy Comm Datuk Mohd Shukri Dahlan said the recovery followed investigations on the Azlan gang, of which four members were arrested in December.

Other spare parts were found in the workshop in an oil palm estate.

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http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?fi ... sec=nation

SHAH ALAM: Police now have the arduous task of tracing and identifying each component in the over 1,000 vehicle parts recovered in the bust of a vehicle theft syndicate.

Selangor CID chief Senior Asst Comm Mohd Adnan Abdullah said the forensics unit was going through the process of identifying 1,101 lorry and 102 car engines found at a godown in Simpang in Perak on Saturday.

“Most of the chassis numbers had been tampered with. Our forensics unit can trace the original number but it is a time-consuming process. Only 10 to 15 engines can be checked daily,” he told reporters at the Selangor police contingent headquarters here yesterday.

This means it may take more than 80 days to complete the task.

SAC Mohd Adnan said police had so far identified 14 vehicles reported stolen – Selangor (eight), Kuala Lumpur (three), Perak (two) and Kedah (one).

“This affirmed our leads that the syndicate has been stealing cars and lorries from various parts of the country,” he said, adding that 80% of the vehicle parts discovered at the godown were from lorries.

It was reported that police had arrested 12 syndicate members, including four Bangladeshis and a woman.

Police are still on the lookout for the remaining syndicate members.

He urged those with information on the case to help in investigations.

It is believed that the syndicate had been active for at least 13 years because one of the lorries recovered was reported missing in 1999.

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http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?fi ... sec=nation