Asia Briefs: Car theft rings expand 'business'

Officers checking the luxury car from Singapore which was confiscated by the authorities. PHOTO: THE STAR/ ASIA NEWS NETWORK

Car theft rings expand 'business'

BANGKOK • Vehicle theft syndicates in Malaysia are not limiting their so-called "business" just to their closest neighbouring country, Thailand, but are believed to have expanded to Myanmar, Laos and Cambodia, according to Bernama news agency.

According to a source, cars stolen in Malaysia were transported via sea using container ships from Singapore. They would stop in Thailand, with Laem Chabang Port being the main destination to unload the stolen vehicles. The chances of locating the stolen vehicles once they were transported to other Indochina countries were very slim, he said.

The source also said that vehicle theft syndicates in all of the countries had a strong network between them, which complicated the authorities' efforts to crack down on cross-border crime.


Nanjing to curb home purchases

BEIJING • China's eastern city of Nanjing said yesterday it would restrict home purchases, according to a statement posted on the Nanjing government's website, as the government tries to cool sharply rising home prices in China's second- and third-tier cities.

Families not registered as residents and who own one or more houses in certain districts will not be allowed to buy another home, either new or pre-owned, the statement said.

And residents who already own two or more houses in some districts will not be allowed to buy new homes.

REUTERS


36 killed in Java floods, landslides

JAKARTA • Rescuers discovered 36 bodies and are looking for 22 people missing after floods and landslides hit West Java province in western Indonesia last week, an official from the local disaster agency said yesterday.

In Garut district, rescuers found 33 bodies and were searching for missing persons, Mr Haryadi Wargadibrata, the head of the provincial disaster agency, said by phone from the province.

In Sumedang district, three people were killed after landslides hit two houses.

Mr Haryadi said that 6,361 internally displaced people remain at government office buildings and military stations.

The catastrophe left 951 houses damaged, Mr Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, the spokesman of the national disaster management agency, said separately.

XINHUA

Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.

A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on September 26, 2016, with the headline Asia Briefs: Car theft rings expand 'business'. Subscribe