Hamzah showing some the stolen properties seized from the suspects.
LAHAD DATU: Police detained nine foreigners and seven locals, including a woman, for their involvement in burglaries, robberies and snatch theft cases here last month.
Speaking at a press conference here yesterday, district police chief ACP Hamzah Ahmad said all the suspects aged between 18 and 30 were detained in several raids conducted by the Lahad Datu Crime Investigation Division led by ASP Ladamah Sulaiman.
Hamzah said on February 22, this year, the showhouse in Ipeak Business Centre was broken into and two sets of stove and a plasma TV, all worth about RM5,000, were reported missing.
Police detained two men on August 27, who they believed were buyers of the stolen properties. Following their arrest, police nabbed the main suspect on the same day.
“In another case, two local men, both aged 28, were nabbed separately on September 15 for their involvement in a burglary in an entertainment outlet at Ipeak Business Centre on September 14.
“The first suspect was detained in front of City Motor, Jalan Silam while the main suspect was arrested at an unnumbered house in Kampung Tabanak,” he said.
Their arrest led to the seizure of a Kawasaki Ninja SE250 motorcycle and some stolen properties including liquor (Chivas Regal) from the entertainment outlet, he said.
On September 16, the police detained three foreigners, including a woman for alleged involvement in break-in of a premises in Kampung Patitung on the same day, he added.
The suspects were nabbed with some of the stolen properties, including a suitcase and bags from the premises, he said.
Hamzah said on August 17, the Sari Cold Storage at Taman Aman 3 was burgled and suffered losses of about RM22,000.
Following the case, he said the police nabbed two local men at Batu 2, Kampung Durian on September 23 which led to the discovery of some stolen properties including perfumes and Palestinian money from the premises.
Another three foreigners were detained at Sandau areas on September 28, believed to be involved in a burglary in the teachers’ quarters of SK Sandau on Septermber 17, he said.
He said with their arrest, the police recovered some of the items stolen from the teachers’ quarters including a laptop, mobile phones, pendrive, backpacks and others.
Hamzah said all the suspects would be investigated under Section 457 of the Penal Code.
Meanwhile, on September 19 the police detained two foreigners involved in a snatch theft incident in front of the district market on August 14.
Police also seized the motorcycle used in the incident and both suspects, in their 20s, would be investigated under Section 393 of the Penal Code.
“We believe that we also managed to solve at least four robbery cases with the arrest of two suspects on September 13.
“Both suspects, a 16-year-old local man and a 27-year-old foreigner, were detained for involvement in three robberies at Darvel Bay mall and another robbery in the area behind the old police station building from August to September, this year,” he said.
Hamzah said the police also detained a local woman, who was believed to be the buyer of stolen properties.
He said that both suspects would be investigated under Section 395/397 of the Penal Code.