JOHOR BAHRU: A loan shark syndicate (Ah Long) which was active here since last year was crippled with the detention of seven of its members, today.
Johor police chief Datuk Ayob Khan Mydin Pitchay said the detention of the suspects, aged from 21 to 25 years, was made in raids on two apartment units in Senibong, Permas Jaya, here, at 7.45 am.
He said police also seized various items including cash over RM9,000, false car registration plates, drums of paint, loan books and Singapore simcard telephone numbers at the first apartment unit.
‘’At the second apartment units, police also found over RM3,000 cash, business cards, paint, cellphones and loan books.
‘’They were all from the same syndicate which was active since last year,’’ he told reporters after the raid with the Johor Police Contingent Headquarters CID (Intelligence/Operations) chief Datuk Md Yusof Ahmad in Senibong, here, today.
Ayob Khan said that, based on preliminary investigation, all the members of the syndicate were paid RM2,500 a month to carry out the work of an Ah Long including threatening victims.
He did not rule out that there were still more members of the syndicate on the loose.
‘’We will investigate it further later. This is our third operation against the Ah Long syndicates. Since January, 49 individuals had been detained and 54 investigation papers opened with 27 acted against under the law,’’ he said.
Meanwhile, Md Yusof said the modus operandi of the syndicate was to threaten in stages to frighten the victims who took loans from them.
‘’At the early stage, they will paste up pictures of the victims to shame them, before splashing red paints on their homes.
‘’If the victims still do not settle their loans, the syndicate will set the doors of their houses on fire. In fact, some Ah Long also resorted to locking the victims’ front gates,’’ he said.
Md Yusof said remands for all the suspects would be applied tomorrow for further investigation under Section 506, 427 and 435/436 of the Penal Code, Section 5(2) of the Moneylenders Act 1951 and the Prevention of Crime Act 1959. — Bernama
