A policeman watching over the four men at the roadblock in Putatan-KK Road on Thursday night before they were taken to the Penampang Police Station.
PUTATAN: Four men who claimed to be on their way to celebrate a friend’s birthday in the city made a detour to the lock-up instead when dangerous weapons were found in a vehicle by the police on Friday night.
The arrest was made during a roadblock at Putatan-Kota Kinabalu road as part of a nationwide crime prevention operation, dubbed Ops Cantas.
The four, all in their 20s, were handcuffed before being taken to the Penampang Police Station for further questioning.
During the inspection, the police found a Samurai sword and a cleaver hidden in the Proton Aeroback’s boot.
The police also discovered a MyKad belonging to a woman on one of the suspects, while another suspect failed to produce a valid travel document.
A similar operation was also conducted at Jalan Yuk Min, along the Penampang – KK route during the same period.
Putatan District Police chief DSP Ratan Kumar Singh disclosed that a total of 160 vehicles were checked in the two operations, which kicked off from 10pm to 2am.
“Apart from the four men, we also detained five motorcyclists for failing to produce their licences,” he said, adding that Ops Cantas was also launched in other states in the country.
The five ‘Mat Rempits’ (illegal motorcycle racers) rode their motorcycles on the opposite side of the road in an attempt to evade arrest.
Police however managed to catch up with the motorcyclists who later admitted to not having licences.
Ratan said similar operation would be carried out from time to time to curb crime activities in the district and Putatan.
In Sabah, the operation targetted those who had been identified as members of groups involved in organised crime activities or triads.