PETALING JAYA, April 22 — Police have shut down operations of a syndicate specialising in providing direct-to-user satellite programming and were taken aback at how widespread it was.

Having been in operation since 2015, investigators have ascertained that those behind the syndicate had some 30,000 customers.

Police said the syndicate raked in about RM900,000 each month with offers for satellite or Internet protocol TV services.

Bukit Aman Commercial Crimes Investigations Department director Datuk Acryl Sani said the services were offered through live streaming and subscription cards sharing.

Police arrested six men, aged between 39 and 53, in Kuala Lumpur and Johor since Thursday.

Acryl said syndicate members lured customers over social media offering RM150 for a decoder box and a yearly subscription of RM350.

Police seized 12 parabolic modems and routers, 500 decoder units, Android set up boxes as well as chip-embedded cards. They also seized computers, mobile phones, laptops and tablets.

Acryl said those who subscribed to such services could be jailed and fined up to RM300,000, under the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998.