Car-jacking gangs busted

Car-jacking gangs busted

KUALA LUMPUR (DPA): Malaysian police have busted three car- jacking gangs which stole expensive foreign cars and smuggled them abroad including to Thailand, Singapore and Australia, a news report said on Thursday.

The gangs were linked to more than 400 car-jackings throughout the country in the past year, the New Straits Times daily said.

So far, 11 gang members have been arrested and about 20 cars, including brands such as Mercedes-Benz, Volvo, Honda and the Malaysian-made Proton Perdana, have been recovered.

The daily said the gangs opted to car-jack because the expensive vehicles were equipped with sophisticated antitheft systems.

Victims would be stalked and then confronted by gang members, who usually staged accidents at traffic lights or intersections before seizing the car. Recently, a Singaporean woman was abducted and murdered after her car was stolen by five men who rammed into the vehicle.