A drone photo showing the portion that have been stolen off WM Builder's bauxite stockpile.
KUANTAN: An estimated 15,000 tonnes of bauxite ore have apparently been stolen from the stockpile of WM Builder.
Its chief operating officer Cheok Kia Yong said that staff discovered a huge portion had been carved out of the stockpile at the company's site in Gebeng on Monday (July 22).
"We believe the theft was carried out over the course of three days. It is an open area and there are no fences although the boundaries are clearly demarcated.
"Several individuals were actually caught red-handed by our staff on that day. There were about 10 individuals using up to three excavators and multiple lorries. Our supervisor told them to stop and leave," he said when contacted on Sunday (July 28).
Cheok said they had managed to track down the stolen bauxite to another site approximately 2km away.
"It's quite unusual because no bauxite mining activities are supposed to take place and yet there is a stack of ore there suddenly. From our drone surveillance, we can see four excavators hidden at the site," he said.
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