KUALA LUMPUR: A group of men posing as contractors has been stealing telecommunications cables in the Kepong and Sentul areas.
Sentul police chief Assistant Commissioner Ahmad Sukarno Mohd Zahari said the group had been operating for over five months.
"We received a complaint on Nov 29 of telecommunication cable theft along Jalan Lang Kuning, Kepong which occurred at around 6.20am.
"We opened investigations and arrested five men aged between 19 and 52 following a series of raids on Nov 29 and Nov 30 in Kuala Lumpur and Selangor," he told reporters today.
He said police also seized two cars and a lorry which was reported stolen as well as 840 kg of copper and 220m of copper cables.
"Our investigations revealed the group would strike between 4.30am and 6am and would pose as contractors.
"They would enter manholes and crawl through narrow channels underground to cut these cables and pull them out using the stolen lorry," he said adding that the group also placed signboards to make their operations look legitimate.
He said they even had look-outs to ensure that their operations would go unnoticed.
"Our checks revealed the syndicate would process the cables and sell them to a scrap metal dealer at Gombak.
"They receive about RM32 per kg of copper," he said adding that the five arrested had various prior records.