Ahsmon (second right) shows some of the items seized from the syndicate. – Photo by Chimon Upon
KUCHING (Sept 28): The police have nabbed three ex-convicts, one of whom is a woman, believed to be the masterminds behind housebreaking and vehicle theft cases around the city.
Kuching police chief ACP Ahsmon Bajah said the suspects were nabbed during raids on a 24-hour convenience store and a rented room at Jalan Tun Ahmad Zaidi Adruce on Sept 24 and 25.
“This has been one of the successful arrests made by the Kuching district police when the three suspects aged between 26 and 39 years from the syndicate ‘Piji’ (Geng Tiga), who were known to be actively involved in criminal activities of housebreakings and vehicle thefts around Kuching city and its surroundings, were nabbed by the police.
“One of the suspects nabbed (a woman) acted as a ‘marketing planner’, who would source customers to buy stolen items and arrange for sales and purchases done on a face-to-face basis,” he told a press conference today, adding all three have been remanded and the police are likely to apply to extend the remand period.
He said one of the suspects has eight previous criminal cases, another has 18, while the woman suspect has nine – including drugs, housebreaking, and vehicle thefts, where some were still under investigation.
He pointed out two of the suspects were released from prison in December 2020.
Ahsmon said the police are now looking for another syndicate member from Kampung Semariang to assist with the investigations.
“With the arrests made on the ‘Piji’ syndicate, Kuching district police have so far solved nine vehicle theft cases and 15 housebreakings, with an estimated loss of RM430,000,” he said.
Ahsmon shows one of the charred vehicles recovered from the site. – Photo by Chimon Upon
The police have also identified where the syndicate burnt and disposed of the stolen vehicles.
“All (stripped) stolen vehicles were burnt and disposed of by this group at Jalan Bako.
“However, we managed to retrieve some of the burnt cars from the site as evidence,” he said.
Ahsmon also revealed the modus operandi of the syndicate was to break into houses between 2am and 3am.
“In this group, one of them has the expertise to even disconnect auto gate systems, cars, besides using conventional methods,” he said.
He urged victims who have lodged break-in reports to go to the Kuching District police headquarters to assist with the investigation and identify items stolen from their homes.