[Badyalectlawl]

Wednesday December 22, 2010

Five held for extortion

SERDANG: Five men, including two brothers, believed to be involved in criminal extortion and drug trafficking, were arrested in a rented house in Taman Pinggiran Putra, Seri Kembangan near here at 9pm on Monday.

Serdang police chief Supt Abdul Razak Elias said the suspects, aged between 19 and 29, were arrested after a workshop owner lodged a police report that he was beaten up for refusing to pay protection money demanded by the suspects two weeks ago.

“Following a search, police also found a large package and 40 small packets of heroin, weighing 550gm and worth about RM60,000 in the house,” he told reporters at his office here yesterday.

Abdul Razak said the suspects were believed to have rented the house to carry out their illegal activities over the past six months.

“Their modus operandi was to go to any premises and extort protection money of RM800 from the owner. If the owner refuses to pay, they’ll beat him up,” he said.

Abdul Razak said police did not rule out the possibility of the suspects being members of a triad monopolising the drug areas in Serdang, Puchong and Seri Kembangan.

He said two of the suspects tested positive for drugs while another had a record of a drug-related crime.

All suspects are being remanded until Dec 26. — Bernama