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Armed men loot goods worth USD 12.7 million in Malaysia
Kuala lumpur, Nov 21 (UNI)

In one of the biggest heists in Malaysia, more than 20 men armed with machetes drugged and assaulted security personnel before carting away computer parts worth USD 12.7 million from a warehouse in Penang, northern Malaysia.
Two container trailers driven by men dressed in Rela, the country’s voluntary immigration workers uniform, arrived at the MASKargo Complex in Penang’s Batu Maung at 2.15 am yesterday and the men driving the vehicle told the two Customs officers manning the checkpoint that they were there to flush out illegal workers, the Star newspaper reported.
 Once the vehicles were inside the premises, robbers armed with machetes sprung out and rounded up 17 people in the area, including the two Customs officers and two Malaysia Airport Bhd personnel and beat them up.
 The robbers also plied their captives with chloroform, the paper said.
 Within an hour, they piled 585 cartons and 18 pallets of microchips and motherboards manufactured by a multi-national company into the containers.
 The loot estimated to be worth USD 12.7 million was said to be the country’s biggest ever heist, the daily said. 

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Machete-wielding gang pulls off Malaysia’s biggest heist at California company’s warehouse 

UPDATES with four men detained to aid investigations

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) —Two dozen machete-wielding robbers drugged and assaulted factory workers and security guards before stealing US$12.7 million (euro9.89 million) in computer parts in northern Malaysia, police said Tuesday.
The heist at a California-based company’s warehouse in Penang state was described by local media as the biggest robbery ever in the Southeast Asian nation.
As many as 24 robbers beat up and drugged 17 workers at the warehouse near Penang’s international airport early Monday before stealing two shipping containers full of microchips and computer components from BAX Global Logistics.
Thirteen workers were hospitalized with injuries after the hour-long assault, the national news agency Bernama said.
The robbers forced factory workers and security guards to swallow an unidentified liquid that caused them to vomit, police said.
Four men have been detained for inquiries, a Penang police spokesman said, speaking on condition of anonymity citing policy.
‘‘Three were from Penang, one more we tracked down to Kelantan,’’ he told The Associated Press.
He added that officers were ‘‘still investigating’’ the possible destination of the missing components.
BAX Global Logistics has its headquarters in Irvine, California. Calls to its Penang office on Tuesday were not answered. 
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Malaysia-crimeBold IT heist gives Malaysia bad image: freight chief
KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 21, 2006 (UNI) 

Monday’s multi-million-dollar robbery of microchips in northern Penang state, considered the country’s biggest heist, would damage Malaysia’s investment climate, freight experts warned Tuesday.
‘‘It will create a negative image about Malaysia among investors. This is not the first time such a robbery has happened. It has been going on for the past 10 years,’’ Walter Culas, chairman of the Airfreight Forwarders Association, told AFP.
A frustrated Culas said the 50-million-ringgit (14-million-dollar) robbery would not have happened if the cargo complex managed by national carrier Malaysia Airlines had tight security.
‘‘They ignored our warnings. They never implemented a security system,’’ he said.
On Tuesday, police arrested four people including a security guard of the warehouse in connection with the heist and were questioning them, Bernama news agency said.
Koh Hong Sun, Penang state police chief, said one of the alleged robbers was arrested at a house in northeastern Kelantan state.
Police have launched a massive search for the other robbers, he said, adding that police know the identities of the suspects.
On Monday, a gang of 20 men armed with machetes and dressed in security uniforms attacked workers and forced them to drink chloroform-laced liquid to knock them out.
The gang escaped after loading two trailers with the microchips and computer parts that were to be flown to several countries late Monday, the New Straits Times newspaper reported.
Penang is considered Southeast Asia’s ‘‘Silicon Valley’’ and houses hundreds of IT-related companies including Dell, Intel and Motorola.
Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi also expressed disappointment over lax security in the cargo complex in Batu Maung, near the Bayan Lepas International Airport, and urged police to find the robbers quickly.
‘‘Police have to determine if it was an inside job,’’ he said.
An equally furious Penang chief minister Koh Tsu Koon expressed regret over the robbery.
‘‘I am shocked this has happened. It is not only going to affect Penang’s image but also jeopardise investor confidence in the state,’’ he said.
Economic growth hit 7.2 percent in 2004 but slowed to 5.2 percent in 2005. Foreign investment also fell in 2005 to 3.97 billion dollars from 4.62 billion dollars the year before.
In previous incidents, robbers escaped with liquid crystal display monitors worth four million ringgit from the Kuala Lumpur International Airport cargo centre last October, while in February 2004 half a million ringgit worth of gold bonding wire was stolen from the same location.
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Malaysian IT heist likely had international links
 
KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 22, 2006 (UNI) 

Malaysia’s largest heist has left US semiconductor giant Intel scrambling to minimise damage to clients and industry players Wednesday hinting an international syndicate may be behind the crime.
 Jacinta Vythilingam, Intel Malaysia media manager, said the robbery was expected to have a minimum impact on its global customers, adding it had activated business contingency plans to ensure customers obtained adequate support.
‘‘This incident has come as a surprise, especially the lax security in such an area with high-priced cargo,’’ she said.
‘‘We are cooperating with the police and hope to recover our products. We also trust that appropriate action will be taken to step up security in and around the area,’’ she was quoted as saying by the New Straits Times newspaper.
The 50-million-ringgit (14-million-dollar) robbery, considered Malaysia’s biggest heist, occurred Monday when a gang of 20 men armed with machetes and dressed in security uniforms attacked workers and forced them to drink chloroform-laced liquid to knock them out.
The gang escaped after loading two trailers with the microchips and computer parts that were to be flown to several countries.
Walter Culas, chairman of the Airfreight Forwarders Association, said the robbers would have conspired with international criminal syndicates to dispose the microchips.
‘‘This is a hot product. It is easy to dispose of the items. There are always ready buyers overseas. From my experience, the goods would have left the country within six hours of the robbery,’’ he said.
Police arrested four people Tuesday, including a security guard at the warehouse where the goods were stolen, in connection with the heist and were questioning them, Bernama news agency said.
Culas said the incident had rocked the confidence of IT manufacturers in Penang, which is dubbed Southeast Asia’s ‘‘Silicon Valley’’ because it houses hundreds of international companies, including Dell and Motorola.
‘‘It is an embarrassment to Malaysia. It is going to hurt all related sectors in Penang. Investors will lose confidence in the security. People may be out of jobs,’’ he warned.
Economic growth hit 7.2 percent in 2004 but slowed to 5.2 percent in 2005. Foreign investment also fell in 2005 to 3.97 billion dollars from 4.62 billion dollars the year before.
In a letter to Idris Jala, managing director of Malaysia Airlines, the operator of the commercial zone where the warehouse is located, Culas said all repeated warnings to bolster security were ignored.
‘‘We had made all those security upgrade suggestions to Malaysia Airlines following a major robbery in the 1990s, when robbers carted away millions of ringgit worth of gold bars.
‘‘Now almost a decade later, a more daring robbery ... has again occurred,’’ he said.