SEIZED: Jauteh (second left) showing among the items seized from the five ‘tourists’ yesterday.
KOTA KINABALU: Five ‘tourists’ were nabbed recently after they were caught doing more than just sightseeing in the state.
The suspects, comprising three men and two women, aged between 34 and 54, were caught for alleged involvement in at least 14 house break-in cases within the city area since they arrived here last month.
City Police chief ACP Jauteh Dikun yesterday said the suspects, comprising four West Malaysians and a Chinese national, were picked up at one of the hotels here after closely monitoring their activities.
“We raided two separate rooms and found most of the stolen goods, such as ipad, foreign currencies, handbags, beauty products, RM847 in cash, cell phones and house break-in paraphernalia,” said Jauteh.
The suspects entered Sabah sometime in mid-July and went to ‘work’ after about a week.
For nearly two months in operation, they have stolen some RM440,000 worth of goods and in cash.
Jauteh added that the gang members had rented a Proton Persona and would drive around the city area, focusing on apartment and condominium areas, such as Grace Gardens, Kristal, Signal Hill, Noble Court and Millenium, to carry out their activities.
“The gang’s modus operandi was to pick an apartment or condominium at random, knocked on the doors to check whether the occupants were in or not.
If the house owner answered, they would pretend to ask if their friend was living there.
“If no one answered, then they would take out their house break-in paraphernalia and escape with goods,” he said.
Jauteh added that police also found maps in the room, and believed that they were used to help the suspects to find their way around.
“We believe they were planning to expand their operation in Ranau and Kudat, as we found maps of both districts from them,” he said.
The suspects are currently remanded under Section 457 of the Penal Code for break-in.