Be Careful! Karawang Police Reveals Syndicate Of Motorcycle Theft Targets Child Riders

Karawang Police Chief, AKBP Edwar Zulkarnain (center). (DOC. ANTARA)

The action of a motorcycle theft syndicate that targets motorists from among children in the Karawang Regency area, West Java, has now been revealed by the Karawang Regency Police.

"In this disclosure, we arrested six perpetrators, consisting of two people who committed theft and four others who acted as collectors," said Karawang Police Chief, AKBP Edwar Zulkarnain, in Karawang, quoted from ANTARA, Saturday, February 22.

The six perpetrators each had the initials FJ (32), MH (36), UT (33), WY (53) and DR (54). They are listed as residents of Karawang. Meanwhile, another perpetrator with the initials CR (24) was registered as a resident of Sukabumi.

Of the six perpetrators, there are two people who are recidivist related to fraud cases, namely the perpetrators with the initials FJ and MH.

In addition, there are also three other people who are registered as recidivists of detention cases, each with the initials UT, WY and DR.

The police chief said that the perpetrators were specialists in motor vehicle theft that had been in action since 2017.

Since 2017 until finally being caught earlier this year, they claimed to have operated in 43 crime scenes (TKP) in West Java, such as in Karawang, Purwakarta, Bandung, Bogor, Subang and other areas.

The theft of motorized vehicles carried out by the perpetrators ended on February 3, 2025, when the perpetrators acted in the Dawuan Timur Village area, Cikampek District, Karawang.

They target motorcyclists from among children.

"The perpetrator uses two motorbikes in a circle in the Karawang area, he will look for a child who uses his own motorbike," said the Police Chief.

After the target was found, the perpetrator approached the victim and pretended to ask about the whereabouts of the victim's parents. The two perpetrators admitted that they wanted to deliver an invitation to the victim's parents.

Then the perpetrator invited the victim to take the invitation letter to a place that had been randomly chosen.

"The perpetrator pretended to knock on the house, when there was no response from the owner of the house, the perpetrator persuaded him to borrow a motorbike to pick up the owner of the house, innocently the victim borrowed with (a guarantee) one of his friends living in the location with the victim," he said.

When one person went on a motorbike borrowed from the child, there the perpetrator (the other) tried to seduce and chat. After being complacent, suddenly the perpetrator left, so the victim finally lost a motorbike.

The perpetrator's actions were revealed due to reports of motor vehicle theft with report number LP/B-18/II/2025/SPKT/POLSEK CIKAMPEK/RES KRW/POLDA WEST JAVA, dated February 3, 2025.

The perpetrator was arrested at different places and times some time ago. During the arrest, the police also confiscated a number of stolen motorbikes.

For his actions, the suspect of theft is threatened with Article 378 of the Criminal Code related to embezzlement with a maximum penalty of 4 years and 6 months in prison.

Meanwhile, there are four collectors, allegedly Article 480 of the Criminal Code with a penalty of 4 years in prison.