Two 'family' car theft syndicates busted

PETALING JAYA: It was a family affair for two house break-in syndicates crippled by police in the Klang Valley last week.

The first syndicate was headed by two brothers and the other by a couple. Both syndicates are believed to have been operating since October last year.

Sources said the syndicates would not only break into houses and cart away jewellery and electrical appliances but also the vehicles parked in the porch.

The valuables were disposed of to buyers almost immediately after each break-in to avoid police detection while the vehicles were sold to individuals and car theft syndicates at very low prices.

It is learnt police, following a tip-off, had been monitoring the suspects' movements before closing in on them last week.

A police source said the first syndicate was busted at a budget hotel in Petaling Jaya at midnight by a Federal police Criminal Investigation Department team.

The syndicate was crippled with the arrest of the younger of two brothers running it and two gang members. The older brother escaped during the raid.

The bust was made less than five hours after the gang broke into a house in USJ-Subang Jaya and made off with electrical appliances, valuables and cash.

Police also seized two cars — a Proton Waja and a Honda Civic — which were stolen in Kajang and in USJ recently.

Checks on the suspects showed they had previous criminal records, including for house break-ins.

Police are now in the midst of tracking the complainants to assist in investigations into the break-ins.

Meanwhile, in an unrelated operation a few days later, police crippled another house break-in syndicate with the arrest of a couple at a fast food outlet in Damansara.

The couple led police to a house in Sentul where they seized electrical appliances and other valuables worth nearly RM20,000, a bunch of car keys and house break-in paraphernalia. Two people in the house were arrested.

No car seizures were made from the second syndicate, but police believe the stolen vehicles were disposed of to a third party soon after the break-ins.

It is not known how many cases exactly are linked to the two syndicates.