2 Ah Long Syndicates Successfully Brought Down by Johor Police, 11 Members Arrested So Far

By Aqasha Nalani  •  01 Aug 2022 in News

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On 28 and 29 July, 11 people alleged to be part of Ah Long (loan shark) syndicates were apprehended in searches in Pelangi Indah and Iskandar Puteri in Johor.

They were suspected of using different forms of intimidation including lighting fire to and splattering paint on the homes of individuals who were unable to repay their debts.

The head of police in Johor, Datuk Kamarul Zaman Mamat, said that intelligence and public information led to the arrest of 10 locals, including 9 men and a woman, and 1 Indonesian man, all of whom were aged between 19 and 46 and were members of two different syndicates.

He stated that the findings of the investigation discovered that members of the syndicate received wages ranging from RM450 to RM800.

Additionally, it was discovered that some of the members had borrowed money from these syndicates and were working for the syndicates to pay back their loans.

“We found that there are individuals (who borrowed money) and are hence trapped (with the syndicates) because they are unable to repay their loans.

“We want such syndicates to know that we take cases like this seriously and that these activities will be eradicated,” Datuk Kamarul Zaman Mamat was quoted saying at a press conference yesterday.

He went on to say that as a result of the arrests, his team had been able to solve a total of 10 crimes involving fires and the splashing of paint around the state, in addition to 3 other incidents that took place in Seremban, Negeri Sembilan.

According to Kamarul Zaman, the two syndicates advertised loan offers on Facebook with the intention of targeting Malaysian workers living in Singapore.

All 11 people have been ordered to remain in custody for one week beginning on 30 July.