From 1973 to 1975, a wave of robberies struck Singapore, perpetuated by an unusual gang of criminals.

Swimming trunks gang

A group of four Malay men -- Suhaymi Harith, Khalil Mohammed, Wassan Sakeebu, and Wagiman Abdullah -- would target and rob houses in nothing but swimming trunks.

For 30 months, the "Swim Trunk Gang", as they were called in the press, pulled off more than 500 offences, such as housebreaking, robbery, and theft.

Across their short-lived crime careers, the four amassed a loot worth half a million dollars.

The modus operandi

The four men would first meet up, and take a taxi to their destination together.

Then they will find a spot to strip down to their swimming trunks and break into their victims' houses. 

They then rob their victims at knife point.

After looting the house, the robbers would run back to where they hid their clothes, dress up, and then fled via a taxi.

The reason for wearing trunks was simple: It didn't hinder their movements, and prevented victims from catching hold of them because there wasn't any clothes to grab on to.

What they did

The gang favoured small tools such as screwdrivers, spanners, pliers, and wire cutters.

Often, their targets would semi-detached houses, terraces houses, and bungalows -- big houses that indicated the victims' wealth.

They also operated within a small time window: Between 2am and 4.30am.

Wassan would open the window louvres for the small-sized Khalil to squeeze into. Khalil would then enter the house and open the back door for his fellow robbers to enter the house.

They would then sweep the house clean of valuables, escape, and sell the loot to illegal immigrants working at construction sites.

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Caught in July 1975

Fortunately, their crime spree was short-lived.

On July 3, 1975, the police raided Suhaymi's office and arrested him. From there, he gave away the names of his accomplices after a 24-hour interrogation. The rest were caught in a pre-dawn raid.

After sentencing in late July 1975, the four men were given a total of 64 years' in jail and 144 strokes of the cane.

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