Cops foil attempt to smuggle out petrol from Semporna water village

KOTA KINABALU: Police have seized 45 jerrycans filled with petrol that were about to be smuggled to a neighbouring country from a water village in Sabah’s east coast Semporna district.

Acting on a tip-off, personnel from the anti-crime division and marine unit set up surveillance on a house on stilts in Kampung Batu at 9.30pm last Saturday (July 23).

Semporna OCPD Supt Mohd Farhan Lee Abdullah said the team then noticed a wooden boat parked underneath the house.

“After checking, we found 30 jerrycans in the boat and another 15 that were tied to the beams and floating on the water,” he said in a statement on Monday (July 25).

“We believe the jerrycans were waiting to be smuggled into a neighbouring country,” he added.

Supt Mohd Farhan said they scoured the area further and this prompted several other boats in the vicinity to flee.

“The team seized two wooden boats measuring some 25ft long each as well as an outboard engine. All the items seized are estimated to be valued RM15,276,” he said.

The items have been handed over to the Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Ministry for the next course of action, he added.

Towards this end, he urged the public to contact the police or the ministry if they had any information pertaining to the smuggling of controlled goods.