ALOR GAJAH: A 27-year-old man's attempt to steal money from a mosque’s donation box landed him in bigger trouble with the law when he was found to have also stolen 17 motorcycles in Kuala Sungai Baru here.
State police chief Datuk Abd Jalil Hassan said the man was caught red-handed by the mosque's committee members for stealing RM2 from the donation box at about 5.30am on Sept 12.
Further checks by the police revealed that the suspect was using a stolen motorcycle and he later admitted to have stolen 17 motorcycles since February this year to feed his drug addiction.
"The suspect admitted to stealing motorcycles and selling them for RM500 or RM600 to drug dealers in Kg Pinang Melaka, Sungai Udang and Kuala Sungai Baru for his drug supplies.
"He also exposed the involvement of two other suspects, aged 33 and 35, who colluded with him to steal motorcycles to feed their drug addictions," he said, adding that the two suspects were later arrested at separate locations between 2 pm and 3 pm on the same day.
"We have seized a Modenass Kriss, a Honda Wave 100 and a Yamaha Y100 Sport from the first suspect, a Honda Wave from the second suspect, and a Honda EX5 and a mobile phone from the third suspect," he said.
Abd Jalil added that the first suspect from Dengkil, Selangor had a criminal record involving three drug cases and a case of theft. He also tested positive for methamphetamine.
The second suspect from Pantai Kundur had a drug record, was tested for methamphetamine, while the third suspect had no prior record and tested negative for drugs.
Calling the group 'Geng Kuala Sungai Baru', Abd Jalil said investigations revealed that the group was responsible for 17 motorcycle theft cases in the Alor Gajah district this year.
"They were believed to have stolen the kapcai motorcycles (small Cc motorcycles) to feed their drug addiction.
"We are still investigating to determine if they are involved in other motorcycle theft cases.
“We have so far recorded 112 cases of motorcycle thefts in Alor Gajah out of 234 crime cases reported in the district from January till August this year," he said.
Abd Jalil added that the estimated losses was between RM50,000 and RM60,000.
He said motorcycle thefts was a huge concern in the Alor Gajah district as it represents almost 50 per cent (47.9 per cent) of the total crime cases there.
The suspects were remanded until Sept 24 to assist in investigations under Section 379a of the Penal Code for theft of a motor vehicle.