KUALA TERENGGANU: Four Mexicans, including a woman, believed to be involved in several robbery cases in the country have been caught.



Their modus operandi was puncturing the tyres of vehicles belonging to victims before robbing them.



The four suspects, aged 30 to 80, were arrested in Jalan Astaka, Kuala Berang, on Monday five hours after robbing a businesswoman using the modus operandi at the parking lot of a supermarket.



Terengganu CID chief ACP K. Manoharan said the four suspects had shadowed the victim, in her 20s, who had just completed cashing cheques totalling RM13,000 at a bank near the supermarket at about 1pm.



He said when the victim returned to her car, she found that a tyre of her car had been deflated.



She then put the cash under the driver's seat when a foreign man approached and offered to help. "He gave the victim a bottle of liquid before asking her to insert the liquid into the nozzle of the deflated tire. When the victim followed his instruction, he took advantage of the situation and fled with the money," he told reporters here.



Manoharan said after realising that the man was not around, the victim immediately checked her car and found the money missing.



"A witness saw the suspect fleeing in a Toyota Vios car and after receiving a report, police launched an operation to hunt down the suspects and detected the car heading to Hulu Terengganu. We arrested the suspects and recovered the stolen money," he said.



He said the four suspects had been placed on remanded for further investigations.



He also urged a man who witnessed the incident to come forward to assist police in the investigation.



Initial investigations found that the suspects, first time in the country, had stayed for a few months as tourists and the Toyota Vios was a rented car.



"Police believe the suspects were involved in several criminal cases in other places using the same modus operandi, but further investigation into the cases is atill ongoing," he said.