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.