Luxury cars stolen in Malaysia are being smuggled out of the country and sold to fund terrorist and criminal organisations, a top police chief said today.

Car stealing is rampant in the Asian nation and this is the first time the police are linking the crime with terrorism.

Christopher Wan, a criminal investigation department director, said 4,907 luxury cars were stolen in Malaysia in the first five months of this year - 11.5 percent higher than 12 months ago.

"Trafficking and smuggling of stolen vehicles are mainly the work of structured and sophisticated global criminal groups," Wan was quoted saying by state news agency Bernama .

"Such proceeds from ill-gotten gains might be used to support and strengthen criminal or terrorist organisations. At the same time, it destabilises developing nations," he said, without elaborating further.

US$21 billion worth of luxury cars

About US$21 billion worth of luxury vehicles are stolen throughout Asia, Europe, Africa and North America every year, Wan said, adding that there was a need to enhance information sharing between nations to fight theft.

Southeast Asian countries are used as a transit stop to smuggle stolen luxury vehicles, he said.

Jemaah Islamiah (JI) is seen as the Southeast Asian wing of Osama Laden's al-Qaeda network and has mounted a string of attacks, including the Bali bombings in October 2002 which killed 202 people.