According to Bukit Aman CID director Wan Ahmad Najmuddin Mohd, the Royal Thai Police (RTP) had retrieved more than 100 stolen Malaysian vehicles in the kingdom since 2015 and handed them over to its Malaysian counterpart.
“Thailand has become a transit country for Malaysia’s car-jacking syndicates,” he told the media when receiving 20 stolen Malaysian cars, mostly luxury vehicles, from RTP adviser Gen Witaya Prayongpan in an official ceremony yesterday.
Wan Ahmad, who thanked the RTP for its work in tackling the crime, said both police forces would step up their cooperation to bust car-theft syndicates currently operating in both countries.
He said Bukit Aman and RTP had over the years established good relations and cooperation encompassing all fields, as recently shown in the arrest of six Malaysians in Bangkok for alleged links to a call-scam syndicate.
The CID chief said efforts were underway to track down the Malaysian leader of the syndicate which was busted in Bangkok last week.
Meanwhile, the RTP in a statement issued after the handing-over ceremony said stolen vehicles were a long-standing issue and had negatively impacted the economies of both countries.
“This is not merely about stolen motor vehicles but could potentially finance other activities of a criminal nature such as terrorism,” it added.