KOTA BARU: A smuggler was caught red-handed while filing subsidised 1kg cooking oil in polybags into plastic containers yesterday, suspected of smuggling to the neighbouring country.
The 65-year-old was doing this inside a workshop in Pasir Puteh when he was arrested by officers from the Kelantan Domestic Trade and Cost of Living Ministry (KPDN).
State KPDN director Azman Ismail said the raid was carried out following a recent arrest of another man in Pasir Mas.
"The raid at the workshop in Cherang Tuli, Pasir Puteh, was a follow-up operation after we arrested a man for possession of more than 40 boxes in Pasir Mas two days ago.
"After getting information from him, the ministry yesterday raided the workshop and saw a man was cutting the 1kg cooking oil in polybags and filling it into the containers.
"In the 2pm raid, we seized 2,308 kg of polybags cooking oil and later detained the suspect," he told a Press conference here today.
Azman said initial investigation showed that the cooking oil worth more than RM46,000, would be smuggled to Thailand via the many illegal jetties along the border.
"We suspect the cooking oil was obtained from retailers from Besut, Terengganu, and will be smuggled to Thailand via sea route.
"What surprised us is that the man who is a smuggler, has been using chemical containers for the cooking oil. If he used recycled chemical containers, it might pose a risk for the users," he said.
He added the modus of operation of filling 1kg cooking oil into plastic containers was first detected by Kelantan KPDN.