4 June, 2009
Two years ago, Malaysia Today wrote a series of 12 articles about the Johor Chinese underworld that controls the drugs, loan shark, prostitution and illegal gambling syndicate. Malaysia Today revealed that the syndicate has sprouted its wings to the other states, transforming itself into a nationwide enterprise in partnership with the top guns in the police force, the IGP in particular. It took two years for this story to finally make the mainstream newspapers.
THE CORRIDORS OF POWER
Raja Petra Kamarudin
New Straits Times, 3 June 2009
State police chief Datuk Mokhtar Shariff said police were completing their investigations into the ringleaders of illegal moneylending syndicates and expected to bring them to book soon.
He said these "fathers" provided the syndicates with strong financial backing through their close links with crime syndicates involved in prostitution, drug trafficking and four-digit gambling.
"We believe their wealth is linked to money-laundering.
"My warning to them is that we will get you and take you off the streets," he said after a joint operation by police and the Johor Baru City Council to remove Ah Long stickers and bunting in the city here yesterday.
The operation, which was also carried out in other districts, was aimed at giving the local authorities a morale booster in the war against Ah Long syndicates.
Mokhtar said police would not tolerate Ah Long activities and he criticised those who borrowed from Ah Long because of their gambling addiction.
City mayor and council president Datuk Naim Nasir, who was present, said it was illegal to put up stickers and bunting to advertise moneylending services, a common practice among Ah Long.
"It does not matter whether it is licensed or otherwise. The fact is that such a form of advertisement is illegal.
"It ruins public property and brings no benefit to society, besides being an eyesore."
On snatch thefts, Mokhtar said police had arrested 104 suspects, most of whom were drug addicts.
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My son the AH LONG? — Mum shocked over 'secret' splashed in newspapers
She thought 'secretive' son was a property agent
The Malay Mail, 3 June 2009
ALL along, the family of Chan Ching Fatt thought that he was a property agent... until they saw his face plastered in the newspapers a few days ago.
The 22-year-old is wanted for questioning by police allegedly for his connections with the Krystal-9 loan shark syndicate which had held three debtors in chains and tortured them in a shoplot at Seri Kembangan. Chan was allegedly in charge of the syndicate's operations in Klang.
His mother discovered her son's "secret identity" after buying the evening edition of a Chinese newspaper. And his father is too distraught to speak.
"I usually buy the evening Chinese newspapers... then I saw my son's face. It is a big shock to me," said the woman, in her 40s.
Shock soon turned to anxiety as the phone in their Puchong home began to ring incessantly. Relatives and family friends flooded the family with inquiries about Chan.
"I truly didn't know what to tell them. I am still shocked," she said.
The mother of four said her son, who lives elsewhere, had told the family that he was working as a property agent.
"That's what he told us. Previously, he was working as a tour guide."
She said the last time the family met Chan, the second of four siblings, was about a year ago.
"He has always been the secretive type. We don't even have his phone number, we don't know where he lives," she said.
However, just like any mother, she is worried for his safety.
"What kind of mother am I... how can I not get worried . I am always thinking how, where he is. How is he managing... ."
And naturally, she believes her son isn't a bad person.
"He's not like that... he was probably influenced by the people, friends. He maybe mixed with the wrong crowd," she said.
The couple has yet to be interviewed by police. Chan is one of four men on the police list. One, Lee Chin Onn, was nabbed by police on Monday. (See accompanying story)
Police are also looking for the alleged ringleader, Ong Leng Kok, better known as Franco, 32, and the ring's alleged Ampang operations leader Yong Hock Fai, known as Alex, and two others.
The syndicate used a shoplot in Seri Kembangan to imprison debtors. Three debtors, rescued by police on May 27, were found chained, all by the neck, in a cell that looked more like a toilet, measuring 4x7ft.
For food, they had tap water and a loaf of bread each to last for two weeks. The "prisoners" sat beside a smelly toilet bowl.They said they were also beaten with sticks and belts by enforcers wearing gas masks.
Meanwhile Chan's father, a mechanic in his 50s, was too distraught to talk. "There's nothing to say."
Police looking into underworld links
SELANGOR police chief DCP Datuk Khalid Abu Bakar urged defaulters who had been confined by the syndicate to contact police to facilitate investigations.
The syndicate, believed to have originated from Tangkak, Johor is said to have branches throughout Peninsular Malaysia. Their two biggest branches were said to have been in Kuala Lumpur and Selangor.
On whether the syndicate's operation has any links to underworld organisations, Khalid said it was possible.
"The ‘taiko' (big brother) could be connected to a triad group but it's too early to make any assumptions."
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