Botak Siva group busted
> Cannibalised lorry parts supplied to Pakistan and Egypt for over a year
PORT KLANG: Police have busted a syndicate supplying millions of ringgit worth of cannibalised spare parts from heavy vehicles to Pakistan and Egypt for over a year now.
The syndicate codenamed “Botak Siva” is run jointly by both locals and foreigners and has been active since 2015.
Selangor police chief Commissioner Datuk Mazlan Mansor said the suspects disabled the stolen lorry’s alarm system and drove them off to a warehouse in Klang.
“The syndicate members would then dismantle the lorry parts in the warehouse. The parts would be stored in shipping containers and delivered to Middle Eastern destinations.
“Following a tip-off, two syndicate members – a local and a Bangladeshi – were arrested on Jan 23 at a warehouse in Kampung Batu 7. They were in the midst of dismantling lorry components,” he told reporters yesterday.
Following interrogation, the duo then led police to the arrest of an Egyptian and another local man two days later.
“We believe that the Egyptian is the coordinator and the middleman for the sale and export of stolen lorry parts when it arrived in the Middle East and his partner, the local, is the transporter of the stolen parts,” he added.
The fifth suspect was arrested on Feb 13, bringing the total number of suspects to five, aged between 33 and 44.
Following investigations, with the help of Singapore police and Interpol, police recovered a container in Singapore. The shipping container was declared as secondhand vehicle parts.
The container was subsequently seized and brought back to Port Klang for further checks where police found RM2 million worth of items – 13 engines, 49 shock absorbers, 11 mounting bars, 13 front axles, eight fuel tanks, and six lorry exhaust pipes.
Police also managed to trace five stolen lorry parts to four cases reported in Klang Valley and one in Seremban.
The syndicate exported four shipping containers filled with stolen parts twice to Pakistan and twice to Egypt last year.
“The stolen items comprising 120 lorry engines are estimated to be worth RM12 million. Each shipping container is able to fit 30 spare parts,” added Mazlan.
Police have formed a team under Ops Lejang to track down more suspects who can help investigations.
The suspects are under remand and the case is being investigated under Section 413 of the Penal Code for habitually dealing in stolen property.