IPOH: Subsidised petrol and diesel worth RM956,046 have been seized by the Domestic Trade and Cost of Living Ministry in Perak since the launch of Ops Tiris 4.0 (Integrated) on March 16.
The ministry’s Perak director, Datuk Kamalludin Ismail, said 25 misappropriation cases had been recorded, with a raid in Teluk Intan on June 4 yielding one of the department's biggest seizures - 21,840 litres of diesel worth RM202,211.
"Another case involving diesel misappropriation was detected in Manjung on April 9, with the seizure of 5,070 litres of diesel valued at RM56,371.
"Both cases are considered significant because they involved large quantities of diesel and had the potential to cause substantial subsidy losses to the government had they not been detected earlier," he told Bernama during a recent interview at the ministry’s Perak headquarters here on Sunday (June 28).
He said the integrated and strategic operation had also uncovered various modus operandi employed by syndicates to evade enforcement, including the use of modified vehicles fitted with additional tanks to transfer diesel in stages before selling it to selected buyers.
He said the ministry had also detected the transfer of diesel to illegal storage facilities before it was redistributed to an identified network of buyers.
To curb such activities, the ministry would continue intensifying intelligence-gathering efforts by analysing data and monitoring transaction patterns throughout the supply chain to detect suspicious activities at an early stage.
Kamalludin said enforcement efforts had also been strengthened through inter-agency cooperation involving the police and the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency, including tighter controls at border areas and high-risk transport routes.
"This operation not only focuses on the source of supply but also the entire distribution chain to ensure enforcement action can dismantle the misappropriation network comprehensively," he said.
He said compliance with licence and permit conditions among industry players had improved following the implementation of Ops Tiris 4.0 (Integrated).
"When leakages are reduced, government subsidies can be channelled to the eligible groups. This helps ensure government allocations are used more efficiently, reduces wastage of public funds and safeguards the sustainability of the subsidy policy for the benefit of the people," he said. – Bernama
