Seven men arrested in Setapak for stealing cables, causing RM300,000 in losses. Police seized processed copper wire and equipment.
KUALA LUMPUR: Police have dismantled a cable theft syndicate targeting Telekom Malaysia infrastructure with the arrest of seven local men in Setapak.
Wangsa Maju District Police Chief ACP Mohamad Lazim Ismail said the suspects were detained in two separate raids conducted last Tuesday and yesterday.
Six men were arrested at 5 am last Tuesday while illegally cutting underground Telekom Malaysia cables without any permits.
Following initial investigations, police conducted a follow-up operation yesterday afternoon and arrested a 42-year-old man described as the premises caretaker.
The second location was allegedly used for processing stolen cables where police seized 30 cut cable casings, six aluminium wrapping sheets, and a 10kg bundle of copper wire.
Mohamad Lazim said the syndicate had been active for approximately one year causing an estimated RM300,000 in losses to Telekom Malaysia.
The group allegedly identified TM manholes and placed traffic cones to simulate legitimate maintenance work.
Some suspects would enter manholes to cut cables while others used a lorry to extract the stolen materials.
Stolen cables were transported to processing sites near construction areas where they were burned to separate copper for resale.
The copper was sold to scrap metal dealers at approximately RM16 per kilogram according to police investigations.
All suspects aged between 17 and 42 have been remanded for one to three days for further investigation.
They are being investigated under Section 379 of the Penal Code for theft. – Bernama
