KUALA LUMPUR: Almost RM4bil worth of materials and items were seized following raids on 90 illegal e-waste factories nationwide, says Comm Datuk Seri Azmi Abu Kassim.
The Bukit Aman Internal Security and Public Order (KDNKA) department director said 538 individuals were detained in the raids between Jan 1 last year and Feb 17 this year.
“There were 115 Malaysians, 125 Chinese nationals, 149 Myanmar nationals, 88 Bangladeshis, 35 Indonesians, 11 Cambodians, six Filipinos, five Nepalese, two Pakistanis and a British national detained.
“The e-waste factory raids were carried out in three stages since Jan 1,” he told a joint press conference with the Department of Environment (DOE) in Bukit Aman yesterday.
Comm Azmi said some RM3.8bil worth of e-waste materials and items were seized.
“This includes RM3.4bil worth of e-waste materials as well as vehicles worth RM116mil, and RM217mil worth of equipment.”
“Initial investigations revealed that the e-waste materials were shipped from overseas through ports. The suspects made false decorations to get the items through inspections.
“We are investigating further to find out the countries of origin.”
According to DOE director-general Datuk Wan Abdul Latiff Wan Jaffar, the materials would then be transported to e-waste processing factories.
“The illegally processed e-waste would be used to produce gold, silver, tin, copper and more.
“The valuable parts are separated and processed before being sold.
“Unused parts, however, are disposed of without precautionary measures, posing hazardous threat to the surroundings,” Wan Abdul Latiff explained.
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.
While KDNKA started operations on illegal e-waste factories since last year, the staggering amount of seized items in each of the raids has sparked the need to step up operations, Comm Azmi said.
“It culminated with the Ops Hazard special operation on Feb 15, where 47 locations nationwide were raided.
“We will continue investigating to uncover the masterminds behind the e-waste smuggling and illegal processing activities.
“We are investigating if the companies behind the factories are connected to each other.”
“The police will focus on investigating criminal offences while DOE investigates offences under the Quality of Environment Act 1974,” he said.
Comm Azmi said he would convene a multi-agency meeting including the DOE, Customs Department and local authorities to get to the root of the problem.
On a related matter, he said four individuals, including a woman, were detained in connection with the seizure of 50 tonnes of bullets and casings at an e-waste factory in Telok Panglima Garang last Saturday.
He said the 24-year-old woman worked as a secretary and factory supervisor.
“We also detained two Cambodian men and a man from China aged between 24 and 48, who were factory workers.
“The female suspect was remanded and released on police bail while three foreign men have been remanded for four days.”
Comm Azmi said while the recycling factory was registered under a local, it was managed by a Chinese national.
“Illegally processed e-waste contain metals such as gold, copper and platinum with high recycling value,” he said, adding that these were processed into metal bars before being exported.
Comm Azmi said investigations were also being conducted to identity the source and purpose of ammunition waste at the factory.
All items seized from the factory were brought to the Kuala Langat district police headquarters for further action.
Meanwhile, a 56-year-old scientist from China was among those nabbed in a separate Feb 15 raid at an e-waste factory in Sungai Siput, Perak, said Comm Azmi.
“He had been working for about a year and is capable of analysing particles of e-waste materials for conversion into gold, bronze, copper and aluminium.
“He is also capable of analysing the air, water and humidity quality and quantity during the dismantling of e-waste materials.
“The suspect has been remanded until March 1,” he said.
