12 men detained over "Ah Long" syndicate

Johor police chief Datuk Ayob Khan Mydin Pitchay said nine of them, aged between 23 and 36, were arrested on Aug 15 in raids conducted here, in Batu Pahat and Kuala Lumpur.

“The first suspect was arrested at an apartment in Kepong, near Kuala Lumpur, followed by seven others at a shop house at Danga Utama Commercial Centre here and the ninth suspect in Kampung Sungai Suloh, near Batu Pahat,” he told a media conference at his office here today.

He said the remaining three men, aged between 29 and 46, were arrested in raids conducted on Aug 22 in Sepang, Selangor, and Skudai and Johor Jaya here.

With the arrest of the 12 suspects, who are all locals, he said, the police also seized, among others, 14 laptops, 52 handphones, 43 sim cards, five cars red paint and a centralised processing unit (CPU).

He said the syndicate targeted Malaysians working in Singapore with dealings made online.

Once the borrowers failed to make repayments, the Ah Long would search for their addresses and then threatened them, he added.

On a related development, he said the Johor police had opened 398 investigation papers involving illegal money-lending business.

A task force has been set up to track down and detain the suspects, he added.