JOHOR BARU: Police have uncovered a diesel smuggling syndicate hiding behind a transportation company here.
Johor Baru South OCPD Asst Comm Raub Selamat said the premises in Taman Perniagaan Setia here were raided at around 2.30pm Wednesday (Feb 19).
He said three men and a woman, aged 29 to 69, were arrested while 44,500 litres of diesel worth RM155,750 was seized.
“Since October last year, the syndicate has been getting their diesel supply from tanker ships in the middle sea using small boats.
“The smuggled diesel was then brought to illegal jetties and sent to industrial factories and transportation companies using tanker lorries,” he told a press conference after the raid on Wednesday.
He added that the syndicate were usually active at night, when they transferred the diesel to smaller tanks, to avoid the authorities.
ACP Raub added that police also seized three tanker lorries, 14 tanks of various sizes, four electric pumps and a flow metre with a total value of RM1.618mil including the seized diesel.
“We are still on the hunt for the other syndicate members as we believe they are still at large,” he added.
He said the four suspects, including two foreigners, were placed under remand for 14 days to assist in investigation under Section 21 of the Control of Supplies Act 1961 and Section 6(1)(c) of the Immigration Act 1959/63.
