KUALA LUMPUR: Several more people, including those with the title "Datuk", will be arrested soon for being members of the country's largest loan shark network, Criminal Investigations Department director Datuk Seri Mohd Bakri Zinin said yesterday.

He declined to reveal their identities.

On July 11, six people, including a Datuk, were arrested in connection with a loan shark syndicate. The syndicate had links internationally in drug trafficking and prostitution, among others.

Bakri also said there was an increase in the number of foreigners involved in rape and murder cases in Malaysia.

Since 2005, police have arrested 772 foreigners and illegal immigrants for such crimes.

In the first six months of the year, Bakri said police recorded 317 murder cases involving foreigners.

Of the total, 103 cases involved victims who were illegals, he told a press conference here yesterday.

In another case, police are tracking members of the Deva Gang who were involved with the RM3.5 million heist at Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Sepang on April 9.

Bakri said the gang members were hiding abroad and would be nabbed when the time was right.

In a case involving a criminal who was shot by police at Taman Bangi Jaya in Semenyih on Saturday, the man was a member of a gang which hijacked lorries.

Investigation revealed that the gang had hijacked more than 40 lorries.

Bakri said police were looking for 15 gang members who were at large.