KOTA KINABALU: Malaysian coast guards foiled an attempt to smuggle out about 3,400 litres of subsidised petrol into the southern Philippines.
The Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) intercepted a boat with 17 blue barrels about 1.4 nautical miles southeast of Tanjung Layag Layag off the state’s northern Pitas district on Saturday.
MMEA Kudat Maritime Zone director Commander Maurice Grenville Abeyeratne said the vessel was steered towards shallow waters, from where the skipper abandoned the boat and fled towards a mangrove swamp.
He said coast guard patrols carrying out Ops Pluto and Ops Tiris were alerted by the public.
“On arrival at the location, the patrol team observed the boat and as they were about to dock alongside the boat, the skipper sped off towards the shallow area and abandoned the boat,” he added.
Abeyeratne said both the petrol and the boat worth about RM20,000 were seized for further investigations under the Supply Control Act 1961.
