KOTA SAMARAHAN: Police here have brought down a motorcycle theft syndicate with the arrest of four locals in an operation codenamed ‘Op Lejang’ last week.
District police chief DSP Brodie Brangka in a press conference today (Oct 31), said the first suspect was arrested on October 28 following a raid on a house in Kampung Sebandi Matang, Asajaya.
Interrogations were carried out on the 25-year-old suspect and he admitted to stealing motorcycles with three other friends around Kota Samarahan and Kuching.
“Following that, the police managed to arrest the accomplices aged between 21 and 27, and seized six motorcycles and two motorcycle frames.
“A total of six investigation papers – four in Samarahan and two in Kuching, were opened under Section 379A of the Penal Code, which carries a jail term of up to seven years or a fine or both at once, if convicted,” he said.
Background checks found that three of the suspects had several priors for various crimes.
All of them are currently placed in Kota Samarahan police lock-up and efforts are ongoing to locate other suspects involved in the case.
Brodie revealed that their modus operandi is to target Honda and Modenas brand motorcycles at secluded locations in both districts.
In a related note, the crime index in Kota Samarahan, has increased by 20 cases from 262 cases last year to 282 cases this year, in a period from Jan 1 to Oct 30.
“Among the crimes that contributed to the increase this year are theft (142 cases) and motorcycle theft (41 cases).
“With that, I advised the community to be more careful and they should install additional locks on their motorcycles to reduce the risk of theft,” he said.
As for narcotic crimes in Kota Samarahan, Brodie said an increase of 38 cases and 54 arrests were recorded from last year’s 379 cases and 402 arrests to this year’s 417 cases and 456 arrests.
