Break-in gang crippled, four held
Published on: Tuesday, March 26, 2024
By: Sherell Jeffrey
Zaidi holding up a mugshot of the 29-year-old man who is wanted to facilitate investigations.
Kota Kinabalu: Police have solved a string of break-ins here by apprehending several members of the “Yan Gang”, including its head.
The breakthrough came following a thorough investigation which included surveillance and gathering of intelligence.
ADVERTISEMENT
“The group which has five members is led by a 37-year-old man. All of them are locals from Kota Belud and Kota Kinabalu,” City Police Chief ACP Mohd Zaidi Abdullah told a media conference here, Monday.
He said the group had been actively committing house break-ins since October 2023, and their strategy is to target vacant homes by prying the main door open using break-in tools at night.
“The group has committed 15 house break-ins in Kota Kinabalu and one in Kota Marudu. This demonstrates how well organised this group is.
In addition, members of this group also carry out break-ins either alone or with others, resulting in 14 more cases in Kota Kinabalu alone.
ADVERTISEMENT
“This means the group and its members have committed 29 house break-ins in Kota Kinabalu since October 2023,” Mohd Zaidi said, adding the group’s leader was arrested on March 12.
Their activities resulted in losses of RM636,428, including RM283,188 in cash and RM353,240 in valuable commodities such as luxury watches, designer watches, mobile phones, iPads, computers and televisions.
ADVERTISEMENT
“They also stole and fled with two four-wheel drive cars and four safes from the premises they broke into.
“It was difficult to identify them because they donned masks, hoodies, caps and gloves. But we were able to identify them using fingerprints recovered from a legal company in Karamusing that they broke into, stealing RM50,000 in cash and items worth RM200,000,” he said.
He said the fingerprints led to the arrest of Yan, the 37-year-old group leader who was apprehended along with his girlfriend on March 12 in Pekan Manggatal.
“We did not have any solid leads until we had the thumbprint of the group leader,” he said.
Several stolen items were found at the man’s girlfriend’s place. She’s been released on police bail.
The operation culminated in a series of raids that resulted in the arrests of four group members aged 34 to 40.
Their detention resulted in the recovery of items worth over RM200,000. Two safes were recovered, one in Sungai Darau and the other in a river in Tuaran.
Police also recovered two four-wheel-drive cars that were stolen by the group as well as two purchased by group members with proceeds from the thefts they committed.
Initial findings revealed that the group members sold the stolen goods and used the proceeds to acquire two cars for their activity as well as to buy drugs and for gambling.
Zaidi said all five tested positive for syabu.
“The group leader has 12 convictions, which include three for substance abuse and five for break-ins,” he added.
He said all suspects had been remanded from March 12 to March 31 for further investigations into their suspected involvement in break-ins in Sipitang, Kota Marudu and Ranau.
Zaidi further said in 2023, the police crippled the group which was at that time known as the “Gang Gurun”.
The group resurfaced in October last year, led by Yan.
The former leader, Gurun, was a former soldier who was dropped from the army after testing positive for syabu. Gurun is currently serving a prison sentence in Kota Kinabalu.
“Gurun formed a group in 2023 and engaged in house break-ins. We were able to detain him and several members of his group that same year,” he said.
Police are now hunting for a 29-year-old Darau local identified as Adzirul Syamil Kamarudin, also known as Joy, to assist with investigations.
“This man is quite cunning. He is also suspected of being involved in the theft of two vehicles from a showroom in Jalan Lintas last year,” Mohd Zaidi added.
He urged anyone with information to contact the nearest police station.
Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
Daily Express Malaysia
