JOHOR BARU: An early morning internet connection complaint led to the arrest of four suspected cable thieves and the recovery of fibre-optic cables worth RM60,000 here.
Johor Baru South OCPD Asst Comm Raub Selamat said police received a report of cable theft at 3.40am on Tuesday (Jan 21) involving Telekom Malaysia (TM) property in Taman Melodies.
This followed complaints of internet service disruption to TM from residents in the area, he said.
“A team of officers and personnel from the Johor Baru South district police headquarters then conducted three raids around Kota Masai and Johor Baru.
"The raids resulted in the arrest of four local male suspects aged between 26 and 36 years old,” he told a press conference at district police headquarters here on Monday (Jan 27).
He added that the group, dubbed "Geng Boy", had been active for six months.
ACP Raub added that they also seized a lorry, 28 lengths of optical cable measuring 3m each, one length of optical cable measuring 90m, cutting equipment, mobile phones and a car.
All four suspects had records for criminal and drug offences ranging from one to 14 priors, he said.
“Urine tests conducted on all four suspects came back positive for methamphetamine.
“The suspects’ modus operandi involved pulling underground cables from manholes using a four-wheel-drive vehicle.
“They would then sever the optical cables using the cutting machines,” he said.
ACB Raub said police believe they have also solved five other cable theft cases in the Johor Baru and Masai areas.
The case is being investigated under Section 379 of the Penal Code for theft and Section 15(1)(a) of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952 for drug use, he added.
The suspects were also remanded to help with the probe.
