KOTA BHARU - Police have crippled a criminal group known as Geng Saga believed to be behind a series of vehicle break-ins and thefts in Kota Bharu and Pasir Mas, solving 10 cases involving losses estimated at RM23,000.
Kelantan police chief Datuk Mohd Yusoff Mamat said the breakthrough followed a raid by the state police contingent headquarters' Criminal Investigation Department in front of a petrol station along Jalan Long Yunus here at about 2 am on May 30.
The operation was launched following a report on a vehicle break-in and theft in Tunjong, he said.
Mohd Yusoff said three local men aged between 49 and 56 were arrested during the raid, while police seized various items believed to be linked to the group's activities, including two Proton Saga cars, a laptop computer, four mobile phones, two backpacks, 10 bank cards, two international passports and a MyKid.
"Also seized were a slingshot, two spark plug fragments and a pair of pliers believed to have been used to break vehicle windows," he said in a statement yesterday.
He said checks revealed the three suspects had a total of 12 criminal records and 32 drug-related records, while urine screening tests found all of them positive for methamphetamine.
Mohd Yusoff said the court had granted a three-day remand order from yesterday until tomorrow to facilitate investigations under Section 379 of the Penal Code for theft. - BERNAMA