POLICE are on the hunt for six members of a lorry theft gang, including the mastermind nicknamed “Mustapha Pak Badol”, who are part of a syndicate that raked in more than RM1.5 million after stealing and selling one- tonne lorries in several States for the past year.

In a month-long operation, a police task force led by Sentul CID chief DSP Lim San Aik managed to cripple the gang following the arrest of the group’s nine members and seizing 21 lorries in Sungai Buloh, Selangor and Kuantan, Pahang.

Sentul district police chief ACP Zakaria Pagan said following the intelligence gathered by a special taskforce codenamed “Ops Rejang”, two suspects in a Proton Satria were arrested on Oct 6 in Sungai Buloh.

Both suspects tried to escape but police managed to apprehend the duo.

Checks found that the car was reported stolen in Kelana Jaya. In the same area, police managed to find and seize two Hicom lorries.

Zakaria said in a series of follow-ups till Oct 30, police arrested seven more suspects and seized 19 more lorries of various makes, as well as a Perodua Kembara.

All suspects are without permanent jobs and aged between 18 and 52. One of the members is an Indonesian.

“Their modus operandi is to steal lorries left at roadsides or those which are unattended at night markets by making duplicate keys,” said Zakaria.

He said investigations revealed that they had sold most of the lorries at rural areas such as Felda settlements after they change the plates numbers and chasis numbers on the vehicles.

The gang had been active in the Klang Valley, Kota Baru, Hulu Selangor, Setiawan and Rompin, Pahang.

The case is being investigated under Section 379 A of the Penal Code for motor theft. Police advise members of the public who have information on criminal activities to contact police at 03-2115999 or SMS Rakan Cop at 32728.