HE liked them big, especially when it came to wheels.

His cars of choice were BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Hummer and larger models of Japanese makes such as Toyota Land Cruiser and Hilux.

But Nyo Ah Hai, a 43-year-old from Kuala Lumpur, is no car buyer - he's the leader of a car-smuggling syndicate that stole the vehicles in Malaysia and shipped them to Batam, Indonesia.

And he is believed to be hiding in Singapore, Harian Metro quoted a police source.

The stolen vehicles were smuggled via Singapore. "Syndicate members moved the stolen Malaysian cars overland to Singapore," said the source.

The cars entered Singapore with forged customs declaration papers.

"When they reached Singapore, the vehicles were given false documents before being sent to Jurong Port, from where they were exported to Batam and countries like Vietnam, Cambodia and India."

The police source said Nyo is believed to have made Batam his transhipment base for the stolen cars.

He was said to have smuggled up to 154 cars a day to the Indonesian island, where models such as Toyota Hilux and Mitsubishi Storm were very much in demand by the locals.

According to the source, Nyo's syndicate bribed Batam officials into allowing the stolen vehicles to enter Indonesia.

Besides Batam, the stolen cars were sold to other parts of Indonesia. The source said Nyo was the brains behind many car thefts in Malaysia.

His men were said to be so skilled that the stolen vehicles were moved into Singapore before the Malaysian police could launch an investigation or, in some cases, even before the owners knew their cars were gone.

AUTHORITIES ALERTED

But authorities were alerted to Nyo's activities when a syndicate member named Yakub Sutjipto, 37, was caught with the stolen goods at the end of May by Riau police.

Acting on a tip-off, they raided a showroom in Batam and found 47 stolen cars, most were believed to have been from Malaysia, based on the serial numbers etched on the windscreens.

But Nyo gave authorities the slip nearly a year ago and is now wanted by Interpol, said the source.

The source added that Nyo is one of Interpol's most wanted Malaysian criminals. This is confirmed by an online check.

Nyo faces the death penalty if he is caught by the Indonesian police.

In May, The New Paper reported about Mohd Nasir Mohd Haset, 49, who was the leader of a "Singapore link" of a car-smuggling syndicate.

It was revealed that Nasir was responsible for exporting 270 stolen Malaysian cars to foreign destinations.