BUTTERWORTH: Instead of helping to keep watch over millions of ringgit in microchips stored at a warehouse, a security guard apparently abetted a syndicate in the RM22mil heist in the Prai Industrial Area.

In the 2am incident on Sunday, a group of masked men armed with parang and axes stormed into the warehouse and tied up the six unarmed security guards who were stationed near the Highway Auto-City in Juru.

They then carted away the microchips on a lorry.

The guards managed to free themselves and alert the police.

Within 24 hours of the heist, police arrested 14 suspects, aged between 20 and 30, including a security guard.

Camera shy: Some of the suspects being taken to the Bukit Mertajam magistrate’s court. Their remand order was extended for another six days.

A major portion of the loot was also recovered in a house in Pongsu Seribu, Kepala Batas, the same night.

State deputy police chief Senior Asst Comm Datuk Abdul Rahim Jaafar said: “It is a major success for us. To us, success is not only measured by the recovery of the stolen goods, but also being able to nab all the culprits.”

He was speaking to reporters after Federal Narcotics Criminal Investigation Department deputy director I Datuk Haris Wong Abdullah opened a high-profile policing programme in Bandar Sunway Seberang Jaya here yesterday.

Meanwhile, the magistrate’s court here has extended the remand order for all the suspects to another six days beginning yesterday.

Four were represented by Y. Yogeswaran while the other 10, including the security guard, was unrepresented.

A source said police recovered almost 90% of the microchips, the property of a multinational company.

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