CID chief Zainol Samah said six luxury vehicles valued at about RM530,000 had been found by a special police team set up to track down the syndicate, believed to have been involved in 18 car theft cases since early this year.

“The suspects, aged between 20 and 60, were nabbed in raids conducted in a number of locations around Alor Setar and Changloon, Kedah, on July 18,” he said at a news conference here.

The group had targeted keyless vehicles (which are opened by touch button controls) that had been parked in the Perai and Bayan Baru industrial areas. They stole these vehicles during the day while the owners were at work.

“By using special electronic gadgets like a jammer and smart key, the syndicate members needed less than 10 minutes to enter a vehicle and turn off its security system before driving off in the stolen vehicle.

“This syndicate also has the expertise to repaint the stolen vehicles, besides being the go-between in delivering these vehicles to be driven into Danok, southern Thailand, through Bukit Kayu Hitam in Kedah,” said Zainol.

A Toyota Hilux, Honda CRV, Honda City Hybrid, Toyota Estima and two Honda Civic cars were found. The police special team also seized various vehicle number plates, fake road tax stickers, Touch ‘n Go cards, SmartTAGs, laptop computers and mobile phones.

Zainol said a workshop near one of the houses raided had been used by the syndicate to keep the stolen vehicles and for the registration number plates and road tax stickers to be changed before these vehicles were smuggled into Danok and sold to buyers there at around RM20,000 each.

He said two of the six men arrested had previous criminal records. All six are being held under remand. They could face a jail term of not less than one year and not exceeding seven years, besides a fine, upon conviction.

He advised the management and workers in the state’s industrial areas to be more careful and to improve their vehicles’ security system so as to prevent their vehicles from being stolen.