JOHOR BARU: Two smuggling syndicates that use two ports in Johor before using Singapore as a transit point to ship stolen vehicles to Kenya and the United Arab Emirates have been busted.

Police recovered 32 stolen vehicles worth more than RM3.4mil. Some of the models include Toyota Hilux, Toyota Fortuner, Nissan X-Trail, Nissan Frontier and Toyota Innova.

The vehicles were reported stolen in Johor, Perak, Selangor, Kuala Lumpur, Negri Sembilan and Penang.

A series of raids by a task force also led to the arrest of 50-year-old Malaysian man and two Singaporean men, aged 26 and 28.

The syndicates would hide the stolen vehicles in containers before taking them to Pasir Gudang Port and Tanjung Pelepas Port.

They then shipped the containers through these two ports to the Keppel Terminal in Singapore before exporting them to the UAE and Kenya.

They used Singapore as a transit point because of easier access to the overseas market.

Forged declaration documents stating that the shipments were furniture and vehicle spare parts were used to deceive Customs officers.

Johor police chief Deputy Comm Datuk Hussin Ismail said 12 4WD vehicles in four containers were seized from a Tanjung Kupang warehouse on Nov 21.

A week later, they picked up the three men at an empty warehouse in Bukit Batu, Kulai.

Police later recovered another 12 vehicles at Pasir Gudang Port.

Police intercepted a shipment of cars at the Keppel Terminal with the help of the Singapore police.