PETALING JAYA: Police have busted one of the country’s biggest car theft syndicates with the arrest of 17 people, including three Singaporeans, and the recovery of 45 luxury vehicles, mostly 4WDs, worth RM5mil from Singapore.

The vehicles, including makes like Nissan X-Trail, Toyota Fortuner, Toyota Hilux, Nissan Frontier and Honda CRV, were recovered from various areas in Singapore such as housing estates as well as from the transshipment area at the port.

The cars were to be re-exported to other countries including those in the region, the Middle East, Hong Kong, Europe and South Africa.

They were driven or shipped into Singapore in containers using forged documents and registration numbers.

Twenty-one of the vehicles were reported stolen in Selangor, eight in Kuala Lumpur, six in Penang, five in Negri Sembilan, four in Johor and one in Perak.

Federal CID director Commissioner Datuk Mohd Bakri Zinin said, with cooperation from their Singapore counterparts, a high-profile team from Bukit Aman and Selangor swung into action and arrested three of the syndicate members on Dec 11.

He said follow-up investigations led to the arrest of another 14 suspects and the recovery of the vehicles, adding that all the suspects, aged between 25 and 35, were picked up in Johor and Singapore.

Two of them have since been placed under the Emergency Ordinance while the rest have been charged in court.

Comm Mohd Bakri said the syndicate members used several methods to steal the cars, including acting as repossessors and carjacking.

“Investigations found that the syndicate, which has been active for the past two years, was very slick in its operations and had a good networking system.

“The members also knew how to disarm the alarm systems of the vehicles,” he told reporters at the Asia-Pacific Auction Centre in Subang yesterday before the vehicles were handed over to 17 representatives from various insurance companies.

Comm Mohd Bakri said police were working closely with Interpol, Aseanapol and the Customs Department to track down more stolen vehicles, including in Thailand and Indonesia.

“We are very concerned about transnational crime and we are having regular meetings with Interpol on motor vehicle theft eradication,” he said.

Comm Mohd Bakri also warned the public to be wary of those selling luxury or expensive cars at very low prices, as they could have been stolen.

“We urge the public to check with the Road Transport Department and Puspakom on the authenticity of a vehicle before buying it,” he added.

source: theStar