Sunday, Nov 18, 2012
Gangs from Romania, Vietnam and Chile have been targeting Singapore without much success.
Foreign gangs have also been active across the Causeway with the Malaysian police identifying at least two gangs - one from Latin America and another from Vietnam.
Another gang consisting of five Colombians was busted on Monday after it broke into more than 10 homes in Shah Alam in a two-week spree.
City CID chief Senior Assistant Commissioner Ku Chin Wah said the Latin American and Vietnamese syndicates were believed to have been involved recently in at least two cases in the Cheras area. Cheras is a suburb of Kuala Lumpur.
SAC Ku told The Star newspaper that the police are looking for seven foreigners, including Frenchman Andre Carlos, 46, and Guatemalans Walter Alexander Hernandez Figueroa, 22, and Marco Antonio Arias Sagastume, 25.
He said: "We believe these three men were not only involved in ATM thefts but also wayside robberies and burglary cases in the Klang Valley.
"The three were spotted on closed-circuit television cameras in banks, monitoring customers who withdrew substantial amounts of cash. Their modus operandi is to inform the victim that they have a flat tyre.
"Once the victim gets down to check the tyre, another accomplice will grab the bag or envelope filled with cash.
"By the time the victim realises the cash is missing, the suspects are long gone."
The police believe the foreign syndicates and a local one had been involved in 10 ATM theft cases, including four failed attempts, since last year.
SAC Ku said the groups have stolen at least RM2.2 million (S$880,000) in the six cases in Kuala Lumpur alone.
Meanwhile, the Colombian gang did its housebreaking in style. Gang members would cruise affluent neighbourhoods in a hired luxury car, looking for potential targets, The New Straits Times reported.
Shah Alam Assistant Commissioner of Police Zahedi Ayob told the Malay Mail: "One of the gang members would press the doorbell and if no one was in, they would break in and take valuables that were easy to sell. The break-ins occurred during heavy rain, usually in the late afternoons and evenings."
Their crime spree ended when police raided an apartment in Kinrara, Puchong (a majortown in the Petaling district of Selangor).
Five Colombians, aged 22 to 51, and a 22-year old Thai woman were arrested.
The police found tools for housebreaking including metal cutters.
They also seized a fake car number plate and stolen items, including laptops, watches and costume jewellery.
The police believe there are other Colombian gangs in the area, but are finding it difficult to get information from those arrested as they pretend not to know English.
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