KUALA LUMPUR: Police have crippled a motorcycle theft syndicate known as "Geng Hadi" with the arrest of six local men, including its 18-year-old leader.
The arrests were made in a series of raids in Kepong on Saturday (May 16), leading to the resolution of eight cases in Sentul involving estimated losses of RM20,000.
Sentul deputy OCPD Supt Jasni Zolpa said the suspects, aged between 15 and 33, were detained during an operation conducted by the D4 Branch of the district police headquarters' Criminal Investigation Division.
"The group leader is known as Hadi. The 15-year-old suspect was found to have dropped out of school.
"All the suspects have records related to motorcycle theft," he told a press conference here on Friday (May 22).
He said preliminary investigations found that the group had been active since early this year and committed multiple motorcycle thefts within the district before dismantling the stolen vehicles and disposing of evidence.
"They targeted popular motorcycle models, stripping them for parts to be sold to third parties or used by the gang members themselves," he said.
Supt Jasni said the activities were carried out at an empty store in Kepong, with the stripped motorcycle frames dumped in a nearby river.
He said police seized two motorcycles, five motorcycle frames, one set of motorcycle components and two mobile phones in the raids.
The arrests and seizures enabled police to solve eight motorcycle theft cases reported in Sentul, he added.
All the suspects were remanded for six days from Sunday (May 17) to assist investigations under Section 379A of the Penal Code for motor vehicle theft. – Bernama
