Errant secondhand tyre dealers to face full force of the law: Police chief
KUCHING: A warning shot has been fired at secondhand tyre dealers never to buy stolen tyres or face court action.
Kuching acting police chief Supt Ismail Mahmood also warned that police will not stop at the secondhand tyre dealers.
“Buyers will be prosecuted, too,” Ismail said to the media yesterday as he confirmed cases of car tyre theft at the Sarawak General Hospital with the latest being on March 26.
He said one of the ways to prevent thefts of car tyres is to direct secondhand car tyre dealers to not buy stolen tyres.
He said if these dealers stop buying such tryes then the thieves will not have any ready market for their contraband.
He said police had from time to time checked on secondhand tyre dealers to make sure they did not deal with tyre thieves.
According to him, earlier in the year, Kuching International Airport reported a few cases of car tyres being stolen from its parking lots.
Apparently, after the airport beefed up its security patrol, thieves began to target cars at the Sarawak General Hospital car park.
Ismail said unfortunately, parking in the hospital is one of chaos, and now thieves seem to be having a field day preying on cars in the area.
Ismail said police are sympathetic with the parking problem in and around the hospital and will assist the hospital’s security personnel to patrol the area.
“My advice, however, is for the relevant agencies to increase all security measure, including patrols, which is our first line of defence against the tyre thieves,” Ismail added.
