PETALING JAYA: Police busted two power cable theft gangs, who were behind a string of cases here over the past weeks, with the arrest of seven men on Monday.
Five of the suspects were hardcore criminals with between nine and 27 past criminal records for theft.
Petaling Jaya police chief ACP Nik Ezanee Mohd Faisal said the first arrests of two men, aged 27 and 36, were made next to a Hindu temple at Taman Baiduri, Section 51A at 6.15pm on Monday.
He said the suspects led detectives to a scrap metal yard at Taman Desa Ria here where a sackful of copper cables were found.
Nik Ezanee said a 36-year-old man at the premises who had admitted to buying the cables from the two suspects was arrested.
He said the suspects told police that there was another man involved in the theft before the raiding party was led to an apartment unit at Seri Setia, Sungai Way.
At the premises, the fourth suspect aged 32 and his accomplice aged 31 were held and police made a huge recovery of goods including cellphones and electrical appliances, all believed to be stolen.
“From the stolen items, we also learnt that the suspects had broken into a kindergarten in Sungai Way last week. The kindergarten owners were unaware of the break-in until they were notified by police. The total losses involved in the cable theft case was RM300,000. We believe we have solved 13 cases of cable theft and a burglary case with the arrest of the suspects,“ he said.
In an unrelated case, two men aged 30 were nabbed at the Menara KLK at PJU 7, Mutiara Damansara for in the stealing power cables at the premises at 11am on Monday.
Nik Ezanee said the men had admitted that they sold the stolen loot at a recycling centre in Puchong.
