KUALA LUMPUR: Raids on 90 illegal e-waste factories nationwide have yielded RM3.8bil in materials and assets, says Comm Datuk Azmi Abu Kassim.
The Bukit Aman Internal Security and Public Order Department director said 538 individuals were detained in the raids between Jan 1 last year and Feb 17 this year.
"The bulk of those detained were in Teluk Panglima Garang, Selangor, and Perak, where 246 individuals were detained on Feb 15.
"The raids on e-waste factories were conducted in three stages since Jan 1," he told a joint press conference with the Environment Department (DOE) in Bukit Aman on Thursday (Feb 20).
Comm Azmi said initial investigations revealed that the e-waste materials were brought in from overseas through ports.
"The suspects made false declarations to get the items to pass inspections.
"They would often declare the items as scrap metals and plastic waste.
"We are investigating further and hope to uncover the countries of origin," he said.
Comm Azmi said the police are not ruling out the possibility that the factories were owned by Malaysians but had financial backing from foreign entities.
"We are also investigating money laundering offences," he added.
While the department began operations on illegal e-waste factories last year, the staggering amount of seized items in each of the raids has sparked the department to step up its operations, Comm Azmi said.
"It culminated with the special operation codenamed Ops Hazard, which started on Feb 15.
"We will continue to investigate to uncover the masterminds behind e-waste smuggling and illegal processing in the country.
"We are also investigating whether the companies behind the factories are connected," he said.
The police will focus on investigating criminal offences while the DOE will investigate offences under the Quality of Environment Act 1974, he said.
Comm Azmi said he would convene a multi-agency meeting involving various agencies including the DOE, the Customs Departments and local authorities to overcome the problem at its roots.
"It will be done soon," he said.
