Police target dishonest second-hand goods stores

SHAH ALAM: Selangor police are hitting robbers and thieves where it hurts most by targeting their main customers – secondhand goods stores.

These stores are the biggest buyers of stolen goods from criminals, said state police chief Comm Datuk Mazlan Mansor.

“They act as fences and are the main source of income for robbers and thieves,” he said during a press conference at the state police headquarters yesterday.

“We are targeting them aggressively to cut out the demand.”

Comm Mazlan said police would also pursue businesses that bought stolen goods.

He said the criminals used the money they received from second-hand stores to buy drugs.

He added that this year alone, 31 premises had their licences revoked after they were found to have sold stolen goods.

“This is in addition to the 80 licences revoked last year for the same offence,” he said.

“Next, we will use the Prevention of Crime Act (POCA) on them,” Comm Mazlan warned.

Comm Mazlan said police arrested 372 people this year under the Act, compared to 262 last year.

He said 451 case files had been opened under the Act so far this year.

“The arrests include 173 people for violent crimes; 142 for property-related crimes, 48 for gangsterism, six for online gambling, and one each for prostitution, smuggling of migrants and running an unlicensed lottery scheme.

“Thanks to our efforts, the state’s crime index has gone down by 17% this year,” he added.