Welcome to gang land

SERI KEMBANGAN: Gang-related deaths and disappearances have become a common feature over the past few years in Serdang.The latest incident revolves around five men, who were said to be involved in numerous criminal activities such as drugs and extortion rackets.Last April, the five vanished without a trace, and it is believed that they were kidnapped by their rivals.

Over the years, Serdang had become a heaven for illegal crimes, mainly involving Indians youths, and FMT learnt that in the last five years alone, 15 were killed or had disappeared.The authorities had yet to charge anyone in connection with these cases.Three rival gangs operate in Serdang - “08”, “Satu Hati” and “36” - and they often crossed swords over the drug and extortion business.
'Recruitment in schools'

Recently, FMT met a former “08” gang member, who said that unlike in the 80s and 90s, the situation was worse now.Kelvin (not his real name) had decided to turn his back on illegal activities after being jailed. According to him, the gangs were recruiting school students."There are three secondary schools in Seri Kembangan - SMK Seri Kembangan is controlled by 08, SMK Seri Serdang is controlled by Satu Hati and SMK Seri Indah is controlled by both gangs.

"To join 08, a member must payRM 8.80 monthly while Satu Hati charges RM11,” he said, adding that he was not familiar with the charges imposed by the “36” gang.Kelvin said he himself had joined the “08” gang in 1999 when he was 13 because his elder brother was already a member.“I felt safe after joining the gang because nobody in school or outside disturbed me. I felt protected,” he said.

'Paying for protection'

After completing his SPM, Kelvin worked as a despatch clerk but left the job because the pay was low.He then decided to follow in his friend's footsteps to become a drug pusher and began to rake in a lot of money.
"I was earning about RM200 a day,” he said, adding that he later moved up the ranks to become a major drug dealer, earning more than RM15,000 a month.A portion of his income, Kelvin said, was given to the gang in order to be used to bail out fellow members arrested by the police.

Kelvin was arrested in 2009 for being involved in a gang fight in Klang. It was this incident which motivated him to turn over a new leaf.He explained that the gangs also had different logos – the images of a spider and sun for “08”, the heart and 1Malaysia logo for “Satu Hati” and Bob Marley for “36”, which also used the colours red, green and yellow.

Members of these respective gangs must display their logos on their vehicles.According to Kelvin, the gang problem in Serdang had become worse over the years."Almost every shop, restaurant, company, buses and taxi drivers have to pay 'protection money'. If they don't, then their shops and vehicles will be smashed,” he said.Kelvin said Serdang district police chief ACP Abdul Razak Elias had tried every possible way to deal with this problem, but “his subordinates are working against him”.He claimed that some police officers were in cahoots with the gangs.

'Come forward and lodge reports'

Meanwhile, Abdul Razak, when contacted, urged the public not to be afraid to come forward with more information on criminal activities so that the police could act."So far, for protection money and extortion cases, there has almost been no one, or very few, who have come forward to lodge reports. Those with reports, we will take action. Wherever we can trace, we do whatever we can but sometimes it takes time," he told FMT.

Abdul Razak also said that he had not received any complaints about school students being recruited into gangs."There are no students coming forward saying that they have been recruited as members," he said, adding that every school had a designated officer to liaise with disciplinary teachers.

"However, we do get hearsay information when I hold dialogues with the community. They mention things like that, but they are always too general without specific information. Plus, many are not brave enough to come forward to work with us," he said."We need information, come face-to-face and talk with me if possible. It is better, so that I can understand the situation, I will listen and I will act," he promised.

On the allegation that there were policemen in his district who were linked to the gangs, the police chief said he was even willing to meet the informants outside if they were afraid."Meet me anywhere, I will come to you," he said.Abdul Razak also revealed that the Selangor police had set up a special Indian task force headed by state deputy chief SAC 1 A Thaiveegan to deal with crimes involving the community and there was a team in every district.


Source :http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/2011/07/07/welcome-to-gang-land/