Hard work begins for cops after busting vehicle theft ring

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.

Investigations revealed that the older vehicles were cannibalised while the new models were usually exported to neighbouring countries, Europe and Africa.

Police estimate that an average of 150 vehicles have been stolen daily across the country since 2010.