SEMENYIH: Police arrested 11 men for misappropriation of more than 94,000 litres of subsidised diesel worth over RM300,000.
Selangor police chief Comm Datuk Arjunaidi Mohamed said the suspects were part of a syndicate buying subsidised diesel and selling it at a higher price to companies in a nearby industrial site.
“Police from Selangor CID’s Intelligence Unit and Bukit Aman Air Wing Drone Units monitored the group’s activities before conducting raids on two warehouses along Jalan Semenyih on Thursday.
“We arrested seven locals, three Myanmar nationals, and an Indonesian man aged between 19 and 59,” he told reporters at one of the warehouses yesterday.
He said investigations revealed that the men worked as lorry drivers and general workers at the warehouses.
“We seized one pick-up truck and seven lorries with modified tanks capable of carrying over 400 litres of diesel each.
“Also seized were a tanker with 25,000 litres of diesel, 46 plastic tanks containing 27,050 litres of diesel and three skid tanks containing 39,000 litres of diesel,” he said.
Comm Arjunaidi said the lorry drivers would go around and buy subsidised diesel from petrol stations and bring the diesel back to the two warehouses.
“The diesel would then be sold for between RM4 and RM5 per litre to industrial companies which cannot buy subsidised diesel. Our investigations revealed that the syndicate was operating for at least three months prior to the raid,” he said.
Comm Arjunaidi said the trucks were fitted with special high-capacity tanks and pumps, adding that the suspects had been handed over to the Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Ministry.
“They have been remanded for five days to assist in investigations under Section 21 of the Control of Supplies Act 1961,” he said, adding that the total seizure was estimated to be worth RM1.5mil.
He said investigations are now centred on identifying the mastermind of the syndicate.
Anyone with information on similar activities should contact the Selangor police hotline at 03-2052 9999 or go to the nearest police station.
