KUCHING: Police believe they have crippled a foreign motorcycle theft syndicate following the arrests of two Indonesians and a local man yesterday.The bust came following a tip-off, which led a team led by ASP Muhd Morsidi Abdullah and Crime Prevention Unit personnel from Central and Padungan stations to Kota Samarahan around 1am where they raided a house and a workers’ quarters at a construction site near Unimas.
The local suspect bolted from his house at the sight of the arriving team and led police on a foot chase through a swamp before he was finally nabbed.
The team next went to a ‘rumah kongsi’ at a construction site and arrested two Indonesian men, including the suspected ringleader who happens to be an albino.
A source indicated the albino man had been actively stealing motorcycles for the past several years and had been on the police wanted list for some time.
Two other suspects, however, managed to escape from the scene.
The three suspects then led police into a secondary jungle not far away where two motorcycles fitted with false licence plates were discovered.
Morsidi later confirmed that one of the machines had been reported stolen on Tuesday from Kota Samarahan, and that police were still trying to verify the status of the second machine.
He said initial investigation revealed the suspects would stash the stolen motorcycles in jungles around Samarahan for several days before smuggling the machine across the border and disposing them there for RM1,500 each.
He added that police were still ascertaining the exact number of motorcycle thefts the group was involved in, although the figure was believed to be high.
All the suspects, including the local man, did not have any personal identification when they were arrested.
They are currently being held to facilitate further investigation.