Lurking Latino gang busted

SHAH ALAM: A group of Latin American men driving fancy cars and pretending to be rich would enter gated communities in Klang Valley before robbing targeted homes after days of surveillance.

Police have successfully busted this group with the arrest of three men – two from Colombia and the one from Mexico – as well as two Thai women.

Police raided the group’s condominium hideout in Cheras on Wednesday, said Shah Alam police chief Assistant Commissioner Azisman Alias.

Television sets, laptops, handphones, handbags, foreign currencies, watches, cameras and sunglasses were among the items seized.

Without disclosing the estimated value of the goods seized, ACP Azisman said the police believed they have solved at least three cases in Shah Alam with the arrest of the group.

On the modus operandi, the suspects aged between 26 and 42, would rent luxury cars and enter gated residential areas that did not require them to surrender any identification.

“Once in, they would scout around the housing area and monitor a particular house for several days to check out the safety features installed.

“They would then hit the targeted house when nobody was at home. The group was so professional that they could escape with their loot within 45 minutes,” he said in a press conference yesterday.

Of the five suspects, only one of the Thai women did not have a passport.

None had any previous criminal records.

ACP Azisman believed the group had been in operation for the past three months, adding that his men begun hunting for the suspects after receiving a police report involving Latin American robbers two weeks ago in Bukit Jelutong, here.

The suspects have been remanded for five days.