PUTRAJAYA: Some 10,000 lorries plying the roads in the country, or one in 10, are under the protection of “tontos”.
This fact was revealed by Road Transport Department enforcement deputy director (operation) Muhammad Kifli Ma Hassan, who said the tontos were from seven syndicates operating nationwide.
“These protected lorries have specific stickers, representing the syndicates that are protecting them. For each sticker, one has to pay RM500 per month to a syndicate for their services.
“So, if we tally the number of lorries and the amount paid each month, these syndicates earn RM5 million each month.
“From a small outfit, the tonto business has flourished, thriving into a major industry,” he told the New Straits Times yesterday.
The department, he said, had pulled out all the stops to tackle the tonto menace starting last year.
The intelligence gathered so far revealed the existence of seven syndicates, which have been operating for the past 10 years.
The seven syndicates are Katana, Mattel, Towing, OneMalaysia, Arowana, Batman and Ferrari.
“These syndicates will zero in at places that have robust construction work, especially in the Klang Valley.”
Tontos are a group of informers, engaged by operators of illegal lorries, who will monitor the movement of enforcement officers and tip off the lorry operators whenever there is a raid or roadblock.
The department, Kifli said, estimated that between 200 and 250 tontos were on the syndicates’ payroll with a majority of these tontos based in the Klang Valley and Perak.
The tontos were equipped with cars, handphones or walkie talkies, and money for fuel expenses and toll fees to keep tabs on enforcement officers’ movements, he added.
Since the authorities ramped up their operations starting last year, Kifli said, the tontos had become aggressive, including tailgating vehicles used by enforcement officers and openly threatening officers with weapons.
Based on one of the tontos’ own confession, they had acted aggressively because they did not want to lose their clients to competitors.
“It is learnt that if these lorries are stopped or flagged down, the transportation companies will cancel their so-called ‘subscription’ with the syndicate and engage a new one.
“This is why they have acted violently against the enforcement officers.”
Kifli said the department’s special action team had collaborated with
the police’s Gambling, Vice, and Secret Societies Division (D7) under the National Blue Ocean Strategy in the fight against tontos.
Last week, the two teams successfully arrested 15 individuals from the seven syndicates and seized 13
vehicles that were used by the thugs.
In the crackdown against the tontos, he said, the authorities had suffered losses, in terms of damaged assets, amounting to RM300,000 last year alone.
For instance, in Sitiawan last year, tontos torched an enforcement vehicle worth RM120,000, he said.
Kifli hinted that a major arrest would be made soon that could likely cripple the seven syndicates.
He said one could only hope that the arrest could put an end to the tonto menace.