SANDAKAN: Police have detained a man posing as a cop who conned and extorted from the public around this district.
District police chief Assistant Commissioner Mohd Azhar Hamin said the 30-year-old foreigner was apprehended when boarding a vehicle in a suspicious manner at Batu 3 here on Wednesday.
According to him, the suspect’s modus operandi was targeting foreigners with no identification or with expired documentation and extort money from them.
Police confiscated a vehicle, a police uniform, a Royal Malaysian Police card which was modified, an identity card, and a driving licence.
“When apprehended, the suspect was wearing a t-shirt with a police logo, a belt with police logo, dark blue pants and black shoes.
“The suspect was tested positive for drugs and has a prior record for drug offences,” said Azhar, adding he was one of the 13 nabbed in separate operations to overcome crime in the district.
Those detained, aged between 20 and 30 years old, included house breaking gangs.
Except for the conman and another suspect, the rest were locals.
Azhar reminded those who were selling police items to get a police authority card and register every purchase made. Businesses which failed to do so could risk losing their licence.