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Despite several recent high-profile heists at cargo warehouses, thieves still pulled off a RM4-million theft at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport here early on Saturday.What was shocking was that there were no security guards on duty at the warehouse, enabling the thieves to cooly drive away an eight-tonne lorry packed with 542 boxes containing about 10,800 units of Western Digital hard disks worth an estimated RM4 million at 5.20am.
Acting Selangor Criminal Investigation Department chief Assistant Commissioner Omar Mammah said at the time of the heist, there were no security guards on duty at the warehouse.
"The warehouse area is huge and the only security is the auxiliary police post outside the warehouse area," he said here yesterday.
It was believed that the suspects were allowed to pass unsuspected as the auxiliary police recognised them as warehouse staff.
Police were alerted to the theft about two hours later. Early investigations led to the arrest of five suspects, two of whom were employees at the warehouse, and the other three staff at an adjacent warehouse.
The following day, police detained another three suspects, two at the warehouse where the theft occurred, while another accomplice was picked up in Nilai.
"The accomplice in Nilai was a former employee of the warehouse. He led police to a house in Behrang, Tanjung Malim, where most of the loot was recovered.
"Two other suspects were nabbed at the house, bringing the total number of suspects detained to 10," Omar said.
MASkargo said in a statement that the hard disks were stolen from a forwarding agent's warehouse.
"The theft took place while the shipment was under the forwarding agent's care, inside their warehouse. The responsibility to secure the shipment falls under their security team," the statement read, adding that MASkargo was not involved in the incident.
The statement also said the control of vehicles and persons into the Free Commercial Zone (FCZ), the facility housing the forwarding agents and their warehouses, fell under the purview of Malaysia Airports Berhad (MAB).
The statement added that the Customs Department was responsible for the movement of cargo in and out of the complex.
Several Customs and MAB officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the latest heist, like the previous ones, must be an inside job.
"Many of the employees at cargo complexes are old hands and they work with syndicate members, tipping them of valuable cargo in the premises," said an official.
"These thefts are the work of organised crime syndicates which form partnerships with cargo officials."
Police are looking for Komessiroe Anak Kamis @ Siro, 25, to assist in the investigations.
Those with information on his whereabouts are urged to contact the nearest police station.
In October, 2005, thieves escaped with RM4 million worth of LCD monitors from the KLIA cargo village and a year later, a 20-man gang posing as Rela personnel robbed the cargo warehouse at the Penang International Airport of microchips worth RM50 million.
Source: NST
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