SIBU: Two women from Syria and a man from Turkey who were alleged to be involved in the theft of RM20,000 worth of jewellery from a goldsmith in Miri, have been arrested here.
The owner of the goldsmith at Emart Commercial Centre had lodged a police report saying that at about 2.30pm on Thursday, two gold necklaces weighing a total of 90.14g were stolen by the two Syrian women.
A screen grab from the shop’s CCTV showed that the women fled in a rented car driven by the Turkish man.
Sibu OCPD Assistant Commissioner Stanley Jonathan Ringgit said the trio was arrested at different places on Friday in Sibu.
“The man, 35, was picked up at 8.35pm at Jalan Diong Kik while the two women, aged 30 and 49, were arrested at 8.45pm in a lobby of a hotel in Jalan Pahlawan,” he said.
The police had also seized a Nissan Almera car and a handphone from the man and 12 gold necklaces, two pawnshop receipts and five passports from the women.
Stanley said the two women, who spoke in English, had come to the goldsmith on the pretext of buying jewellery.
“While a female assistant was entertaining one of the women, the other slipped a gold necklace into her shirt pocket,” he added.
He said the CCTV recording showed the duo left the shop in a silver Proton Preve with its registration number clearly visible.
“Before they fled to Sibu, they had stayed overnight in a hotel in Miri. They had rented the car from a local man,” he said.
ACP Stanley said the three suspects would be sent to Miri for investigation under Section 380 of the Penal Code as the theft happened there.
