JOHOR BARU, Oct 26 — Police are actively tracking down remaining members of a notorious Indonesian armed robbery gang called the “Bank Samun Geng” that are said to have made off with more than RM2 million from their criminal activities.
Johor police chief Datuk Ayob Khan Mydin Pitchay said that since last year, police have identified the gang members who are Indonesian nationals.
He said starting early this year, police have arrested six members of the gang, including their leader.
“All of the suspects, who are illegal immigrants, have been placed under the Prevention of Crime Act (POCA) 1959,” said Ayob Khan during a press conference at the Johor police contingent headquarters here today.
He was responding to the recent arrest of four of the gang’s members, aged between 25 and 51, that also included a woman, at a house in Kampung Melayu Majidee here last Thursday.
Ayob Khan said the raid was carried out after a 50-year-old businessman from China was robbed of RM242,000 after he was slashed after leaving a bank in Taman Nusa Bestari here at 1.45pm on the same day.
Following that, he said police raided the house in Kampung Melayu Majidee at about 7.45pm.
“During the raid, police seized seven mobile phones, two machetes, and 12 fake car registration numbers.
“Investigators also recovered RM26,280 in cash, which is believed to belong to the victim,” said Ayob Khan.
The state’s top cop added that the gang members would also immediately wire the ill-gotten cash back to Indonesia.
Ayob Khan said with the arrests, police have also managed to resolve 12 cases with a loss of almost RM2 million.
“Investigators believe the arrests of the four individuals last Thursday were members of the same notorious group.
“We (police) will track down the remaining members of the gang who are still at large,” said Ayob Khan.
He said police have since remanded the four suspects for a week to facilitate investigations under Section 394 of the Penal Code for robbery.
