00:00 In 1994, Police Officer Amidun Anan was eagerly preparing to take part in the National Day
00:07 Parade when he was abruptly called back by his superiors to investigate a case involving
00:13 the theft of gold bars from Subang Airport.
00:16 Initially, Amidun thought the call to be either a joke or an attempt to withdraw him from
00:21 the Merdeka Day march passed at the very last minute.
00:25 In an interview with FMT, Amidun said he was shocked to learn that one of the most intricately
00:30 planned crimes in Malaysian history had taken place.
00:33 "When we were preparing, we received a phone call that there was a thief at Subang Airport.
00:42 When we heard the word 'gold bars', we didn't believe it.
00:48 We never thought that gold bars would be around at Subang Airport."
00:55 The thieves, taking advantage of the fact that enforcement agencies would be occupied
00:58 with preparations for the National Day Parade, stole RM12 million worth of gold bars from
01:04 Subang Airport's cargo area.
01:06 The grand theft would go on to be commonly known as the Merdeka Heist.
01:11 Asked what made the heist so successful, Amidun, now 72, said it was due to the meticulous
01:17 planning and artful disguise by the Masterminds, a family hailing from Penang codenamed by
01:23 the police as the Mamak Gang.
01:25 Amidun said the gang had pre-planned the heist so well that they had ready buyers waiting
01:30 in Penang just several hours after leaving Subang Airport.
01:35 Some six months later, the police eventually managed to trace the gold sold to the merchants
01:39 in Penang, but by then, the bars had been melted and mixed with other metals to make
01:44 jewellery.
01:46 Ten family members of the Mamak Gang were eventually arrested, but none was convicted
01:50 due to a lack of evidence.
01:52 (upbeat music)
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