Kijang gang gets tossed in slammer
Kijang gang gets tossed in slammer
Evi Mariani, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The Jakarta Police arrested early on Friday six suspected members
of an auto theft syndicate whose modus operandi was to steal
vehicles from owners' garages in Cileungsi, Bogor regency.
The police seized 12 Toyota Kijang vans and a Suzuki Vitara
sports utility vehicle from the suspects.
"The syndicate members told our investigators that they
usually worked every two days. Since not all of their jobs
succeeded, they claimed they only managed to steal eight Kijangs
last month," Comr. Eddy Tambunan, chief of the city police's car
and motorcycle theft division, said.
"The syndicate has a new method for stealing cars. They
usually take cars that people have parked in their garages," he
said.
One of the suspects, Waridi, said it only took them 10 minutes
to steal a car.
He said they first cut the lock on the gate to get into the
yard. Then they cut the alarm on the vehicles and then push the
car out into the street.
"Once the car was on the street, we broke a window to open a
door, and if there was a lock on the steering wheel we used a
drill to open it," Tambunan said.
During jobs, two suspected syndicate members identified as
Dirun and Nuryadi were usually assigned to keep watch on the
street in front of the house.
The arrests on Friday took place after police received a tip
from the public. Then several undercover police officers went in
pretending to be interested in busying a Kijang van from the
suspected auto thieves.
"The syndicate asked us to pay Rp 16 million (US$1,860) for a
stolen 2001 Kijang.
The market price for a 2001 Kijang van generally ranges from
Rp 70 million to Rp 160 million.
"Car owners who have had Toyota Kijang vans stolen are invited
to come to Jakarta Police Headquarters to check whether their
stolen vehicles are among those that we confiscated from the
syndicate," Tambunan said.
He promised the public that the police would not charge them
any fees to reclaim their vehicles.