During the past three months there’ve been 14 break-ins in a medium sized housing area. What puzzles cops the most is how the burglars managed to gain entry. There are no broken windows; no kicked in doors; no signs of forced entry of any kind.

Things stolen from victims’ homes include the usual: money, jewelry, and firearms. One thing the cops notice is that every now and then food is missing from the refrigerators. Apparently these burglars have big appetites.

Finally there’s a break in the case. Cops get a call from a resident in the neighborhood where the break-ins have occurred. The caller says there’s a large number of people gathered in an open field — they look like gang members.

The cops arrive before the gang disperses and begin questioning many of the young suspects. As sometimes happens, the youthful suspects talk about things the cops did not ask about. This opens new topics for discussion.

Before the day is over, gang members begin rolling over on each other. Eight gang bangers are charged with 14 break-ins during the past three months.

This case is unusual. Why is it unusual? Because the suspects are all between 14 and 23 years old, all males, and the biggest one is 4-feet, 9-inches tall. Most of them are very skinny.

Cops who question these diminutive suspects discover that the smallest of the gang members are able to squeeze into narrow openings in homes, then open the door for the rest of the gang to enter. That accounts for investigators not finding an obvious means of entry.

I’m sure you’ve already guessed, the cops labeled this, "The Midget Gang," although nobody said these suspects were actually midgets or dwarves. "They were just very small people," said a police official from Kuala Lumpur in Central Malaysia.

Our thanks to The Star newspaper in Malaysia who first broke this story.