KUALA LUMPUR: Information leaks from within the Road Transport Department (JPJ) have frequently sabotaged enforcement operations against overloaded lorries, says Anthony Loke.
The Transport Minister said he fully supported the recent arrests of several JPJ officers and “tontos” (thugs acting as informants), following a joint special operation by JPJ and the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) on Tuesday.
According to Loke, enforcement teams often returned “empty-handed” because syndicates were tipped off.
“We know that in several states, operators are alerted in advance when operations will be conducted.
“That is why sometimes when enforcement starts, they cannot catch anyone.
“They are unable to enforce the law or apprehend companies with overloaded lorries because they already know about the operation.
“These are serious integrity issues within JPJ,” he told The Star during a special interview yesterday.
Loke explained that “tontos” are individuals employed by companies to act as informants or to harass enforcement officers, allowing errant lorries to flout the law.
He said the ministry is taking a serious view of the matter and is committed to cleaning up the department.
“The JPJ director-general had discussed this with me and prepared for this (operation).
“I said we definitely want to proceed and tackle this problem.
“We want to clean up JPJ, which will help not just in raising the integrity of JPJ but making our enforcement more effective,” he added.
On Tuesday, a joint operation by the MACC and JPJ, dubbed Ops Middleman led to the arrest of 12 men, including three enforcement officers suspected of being involved in a tonto syndicate to protect lorry operators.
The arrests came following raids on companies and residences across the Klang Valley and Negri Sembilan believed to be storing documents related to bribing agents and middlemen since 2023.
Reports stated that nine of the suspects, allegedly agents and middlemen, had offered bribes ranging from RM100 to RM4,500 monthly to JPJ enforcement officers in the Klang Valley.
