KOTA KINABALU: About 1.5 tonnes of subsidised cooking oil worth RM37,620 have been seized by the state Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Ministry here.
The ministry's Sandakan branch chief Azdy Zukkry John said this came after weeks of monitoring and intelligence gathering at a wooden house in an oil palm plantation in Kampung Jawa Sandakan.
He said there were no arrests made as there was no one in the house when the raid was carried out at about 7.30pm on Wednesday (July 27).
He said that the oil-smuggling activities had been going on for over a year, adding that investigations were still in progress to identify the suspects involved.
He said of the 15,048kg of oil seized, there were 436 boxes containing 7,412 subsidised 1kg cooking oil packets of various brands, five tanks containing 7,500kg of cooking oil and eight other containers containing 136kg of cooking oil.
"Initial investigations revealed that the premises did not have a valid licence to store controlled items.
"We will seek the landlord or the owner of the house," he said.
He added that authorities would continue to carry out inspections and monitor activities related to subsidised one kilogramme cooking oil packets to prevent abuse.
