GEORGE TOWN, April 3 — The Penang police have crippled an armed robbery gang after arresting nine individuals linked to the robbery of gold worth RM3.6 million in several raids across the state under Op Jingga D Garden.
State police chief Datuk Azizee Ismail said the operations, conducted from last Thursday (March 26) until yesterday, involved a team of officers and personnel from the Criminal Investigation Department of the Penang contingent police headquarters, together with the Criminal Investigation Division of the Seberang Perai Utara district police headquarters.
Raids were carried out at several locations in the Barat Daya and Timur Laut districts, leading to the arrest of seven local men and two Indonesian women, aged between 23 and 43.
“During the operations, the police also seized jewellery weighing about 4.3kg of gold, a machete, four tyres with sports rims, and two vehicles believed to have been used in the robberies.
“Preliminary investigations found that the group targeted salespersons transporting jewellery for delivery or transactions at gold shops around Penang,” he said in a statement today.
Azizee added that, with the arrest of all the suspects, the police believe they have solved a gang robbery case reported at 9.20am on March 26 in Seberang Perai Utara, involving jewellery losses weighing 6,023.69g, valued at RM3.6 million.
Checks found that three of the suspects have serious past criminal records, including one with 17 records related to criminal offences and one drug case.
“Three of the suspects tested positive for methamphetamine,” he said, noting that operations are ongoing to track down remaining gang members still at large.
All suspects have been remanded to assist in the investigation, and the case is being investigated under Sections 395, 397, and 109 of the Penal Code.
Azizee advised the public not to speculate in ways that could affect police investigations or cause unnecessary public concern.
