Foreign robbers puncture tyres before robbing victims

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KUALA LUMPUR: Police have detained five Latin Americans, believed to be members of an international crime syndicate whose tactic is to puncture tyres of vehicles belonging to victims before robbing them.

Kuala Lumpur CID chief Datuk Ku Chin Wah said 10 other members of the syndicate, including two women, were believed to be still at large.

He said the group was also active in other countries including Singapore, Hong Kong and South Korea and that five robbery cases in the country had been linked to them since August involving losses of RM600,000.

“The two women will be stationed in a bank to observe those making withdrawals. They will then alert colleagues stationed outside to puncture using a nail a tyre of the vehicle belonging to the intended target.

“When the target reaches the vehicle, they will approach him and tell him that he has a flat tyre. The group will rob the victim when the tyre is being replaced,” he told reporters here, yesterday.

Ku said a special team set up to tackle the problem succeeded in detaining the five men, in their 40s and 50s, in two raids on Sept 30 and on Tuesday.

He said four laptops, eight handphones, three wrist watches, a digital camera, six pointed iron rods, a knife and three pieces of plastic sheets were also seized during the raids.

Ku said all the suspects entered the country using legitimate passports which were subsequently falsified to avoid detection.

Nevertheless, he said the suspects were believed to be from Peru and Guatemala based on investigations, which revealed that the money from the robberies were sent to the countries of origin through Western Union.

“One of the suspects arrested also had a warrant of arrest and has been arrested in the past for robbing a shop in Ampang. He was freed on bail but did not attend court for trial,” he added. — Bernama