TWO men were arrested four hours after robbing a taxi driver by the side of a road near the Thai San Kong temple in Pengerang, Johor, yesterday.

Kota Tinggi district police chief Hussin Zamora said the driver, aged 70, was robbed at 4.30pm yesterday as he was taking the two men, both in their 30s, from Gelang Patah in Iskandar Puteri to Pengerang.

Hussin said the victim was held at knifepoint and forced to hand over two Nokia mobile phones, RM400 in cash and a Casio watch with a total value of RM800 before the robbers escaped.

“Within four hours of the robbery, a team from the Kota Tinggi police headquarters Criminal Investigation Division managed to apprehend the robbers in an area near the scene of the crime.

“All the victim’s belongings were successfully retrieved,” he said in a statement today.

One of the men, who had tattoos of a spider and centipede, was suspected to be a member of the Geng 08 triad.

Hussin said both men had prior drug and criminal records. One of them was wanted for a criminal case in Rawang in 2010 and in Serendah in 2022.

Both men have been remanded for seven days beginning today to facilitate investigations under section 395/397 of the penal code and section 43 of the Societies Act 1966. – Bernama, March 5, 2023.