PORT KLANG: The Domestic Trade and Cost of Living Ministry (KPDN) seized over 50,000 litres of subsidised diesel on suspicion of misappropriation in a raid at a jetty in Bagan Hailam, North Port, yesterday.
KPDN director-general of enforcement Datuk Azman Adam said the raid, conducted under Ops Tiris 3.0 by Selangor KPDN in collaboration with Selangor police, began around 3am.
Initial inspections revealed that the raid targeted a jetty for tugboats. During the raid, activities suspected of involving diesel misappropriation were underway.
"Investigations found a connection pipeline between a tugboat and a storage tank, which also contained diesel believed to be pumped from the tugboat tank to the storage tank.
"Further checks revealed that diesel was stored in several compartments of the tugboat, with all compartments fully utilised for diesel storage.
"The diesel was sourced from certain suppliers within our waters and then pumped into onshore storage tanks. From there, it was transferred to tanker lorries for distribution and sale," Azman said during a press conference today.
He added that five men, aged between 30 and 50, were arrested during the raid, four of whom are Indonesian nationals.
"At the time of the arrest, all five suspects were on the tugboat. A local man claiming to be the boat owner later appeared but failed to produce any valid documents or licenses related to the diesel transactions.
"We will be applying for a remand order for all suspects today to gather further information to complete the investigation," he said.
Azman added that the raid and seizure were the result of intelligence gathered over the past two months.
"Based on our investigations during the surveillance period, the activities were not conducted daily. They depended on suitable timings, tidal conditions, demand, and supply sources.
"Usually, these activities occur at night. This area is filled with tugboats, which may have concealed the illegal operations," he added.
He also said that the team seized a tugboat, diesel stored in the boat and jetty tanks, connection hoses, several related documents, and other equipment believed to have been used in the operation.
"Investigations estimate that the quantity of diesel seized from the boat and storage tanks exceeds 50,000 litres, with the total value of the seizure estimated at RM900,000.
"A case file has been opened, and further investigations are underway under the Control of Supplies Act 1961 [Act 122] to identify other individuals involved and the distribution network for the diesel," Azman said.
In a related development, Azman said that under Ops Tiris 3.0, which began in January and ran until Dec 10, a total of 16,876 inspections were conducted nationwide.
These resulted in 732 cases with total seizures valued at RM73.11 million.