Police detain two more suspects in connection with microchips heist

Police detained two suspects in connection with the RM800,000 microchips theft at the Free Industrial Zone in Bayan Lepas last Friday.

Penang deputy police chief Datuk A. Thaiveegan said the two suspects, aged 30 and 40, were detained in Ipoh, Perak, a day after the heist to assist investigations.

He said police had so far detained three suspects, including a lorry driver, who was detained on the very same day of the robbery.

"One of the suspects has a previous criminal record for drugs. Our target now is to track down the mastermind who is believed to be outside Penang," he told reporters, here today.

However, Thaiveegan did not reveal any other details of the two suspects because investigations were ongoing and the remaining 10 boxes of microchips were not in their possession.

Thaiveegan also clarified that the stolen microchips were worth RM1.5 million and not RM5 million as reported earlier when 22 boxes of microchips were reported missing from a factory at 9pm on Friday.

He said of the 22 boxes, 12 boxes were recovered from a lorry which the police had traced using the Global Positioning System (GPS).

In the 9pm incident, a lorry laden with 22 boxes of microchips was reported missing after the driver left the vehicle to obtain documents from the factory.

He said the police were investigating the case from various angles, including the possibility that the crime was an "inside job".