SANDAKAN: Two men were detained after the Sabah Region Four Marine Police Force busted a diesel smuggling operation at a jetty here, seizing a vessel, a tanker lorry and fuel worth more than RM2 million.
Its Commander ACP Ahmad Amri Abd Rahman said their team carried out the operation at about 3.55pm on Wednesday after receiving a public tip-off, with intelligence officers subsequently spotting a suspicious tanker lorry.
“Further checks found diesel being transferred from a cargo ship into the lorry tanker. The duo, aged 25 and 28, were detained after failing to produce documents relating to the source of the diesel supply from a legitimate supplier when checks were carried out,” he said, Thursday.
During the operation, the team seized a steel-hulled cargo ship, a 15,000-litre capacity Nissan Diesel tanker lorry, about 28,000 litres of diesel and several pieces of equipment believed used in the activity.
The total value of the seizure, comprising the vessel, vehicles, diesel and other equipment, is estimated at RM2,082,760.
Meanwhile, the Sabah Region Four Marine Police Force recorded 112 cases, with 103 arrests and a total seizure worth RM25,869,045.30 between January and September this year.
Ahmad Amri said they will continue to step up intelligence gathering, monitoring and enforcement operations to curb the diversion of controlled goods, adding that such efforts were important to ensure subsidised supplies were not abused or diverted for the benefit of certain parties.
He urged the public to keep providing information to the authorities if they detected any suspicious activity, saying public cooperation was vital in helping authorities combat unlawful activities.
