City police chief Mazlan Lazim said the suspects, aged 41 to 63, were picked up by a team from the state police contingent headquarters’ Criminal Investigation Department (Intelligence/Operations) at 5pm.

“Checks at the premises led to the discovery of 20 Toyota Hilux pick-up trucks and a Mini Austin Morris which were either stolen or had the chassis numbers tampered with. Also seized were four mobile phones,” he said at the Bukit Jalil police station here today.

Mazlan said initial investigations revealed that six of the Toyota Hilux vehicles were not listed in the Road Transport Department system, while the chassis numbers of 11 others had been tampered with.

“Three other Toyota Hilux vehicles and the Mini Austin Morris were reportedly stolen,” he said, adding that all the vehicles were likely to be smuggled to other countries, especially countries in the Middle East.

Mazlan said the vehicles with altered chassis numbers would be sent for further investigation.

“All the suspects had criminal records for drug-related offences and theft, while one of them was detained under the Prevention of Crime Act (Poca) 1959,” he said, adding that the men were being remanded for five days to facilitate investigations.