KOTA KINABALU: Malaysian police have detained 12 people, including a woman, in connection with the four-wheel-drive (4WD) and saloon car smuggling syndicates in Sabah, revealed Sabah Police Commissioner Datuk Jalaluddin Abdul Rahman here the other day.
Speaking at a press conference here the other day, Jalaluddin said the suspects, all locals aged between 13 and 55, had been remanded to facilitate investigation under Section 379 A of the Penal Code for motor vehicle theft.
He said the police had so far seized six vehicles from two raids between February 4 and February 9.
In the first operation, the police arrested seven people, including a woman, at an unnumbered house at Kampung Kivatu in Penampang, on February 4.
The police also confiscated five vehicles – two Proton Wiras, a Proton Saga BLM, a Proton Satria and a Toyota Hilux 4WD.
Five days later, on February 9, the police arrested five men around Penampang and Kota Kinabalu and confiscated a Proton Wira, he said.
Jalaluddin added a special task force had been set up by the police and the Sabah police were working closely with their counterparts in Sarawak to nab the vehicle thieves.
He said police investigation believed most of the vehicles were stolen from Sabah and smuggled to Long Bawan, north Kalimantan, Indonesia.
