Plot foiled: The suspect with the items seized by the MMEA.
KOTA KINABALU: A man has been arrested for illegally ferrying controlled goods, including rice and sugar, in waters off Tawau.
The 37-year-old was manning a cargo boat near the Tawau CIQ jetty when maritime officials conducting Ops Khas Pagar Laut and Ops Tiris approached to make an inspection on Tuesday.
Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) Tawau zone director Maritime Capt Shahrizan Raman said officers found 200kg of rice, 10 packets of cooking oil, 204kg of refined sugar, three gallons of petrol and three LPG gas cylinders on board.
“The man failed to produce trading licence for the rice and did not have any customs declaration documents on other items in the 1.15pm inspection,” he said in a statement.
He said the skipper together with the seized items and boat were brought to the Tawau maritime jetty for further investigation.
The confiscated goods and the boat were worth about RM27,000, said Shahrizan.
He said to avoid authorities from detecting these illegal trading activities, suspects would ferry items in small amounts, going back and forth from supplier to the intended destination.
