SHAH ALAM: The police have crippled two gangs that have been actively involved in stealing motorcycles since the beginning of this year, with the arrest of nine local men following several raids around Selangor last month.

Shah Alam district police chief ACP Mohd Iqbal Ibrahim said all the suspects were found to have various past criminal records related to drugs and motorcycle theft and a few of them have just been released from prison.

“Six raids were conducted early last month and the nine suspects aged 24 to 33 were nabbed in Klang, Shah Alam and Banting,“ he told a press conference today.

Mohd Iqbal said the activities of the two gangs were mainly at public parking lots, flats and supermarkets that were either without security guards or not installed with closed-circuit television.

He said the stolen motorcycles were disassembled so that the parts could be sold to unsuspecting buyers, adding that police do not rule the possibility that the sale proceeds were used to buy drugs as urine tests found most of them positive for drugs.

“A total of 13 motorcycles including a Yamaha 135LC, Y15ZR, Honda EX5 and three motorcycle frames, with estimated value at RM20,000 were seized,“ he said.

With the arrest, police have solved 20 motorcycle theft cases which were reported in the Shah Alam and Klang districts.-Bernama