KLANG: The Customs Department will work with the police to identify the recipients of over 2,118 tonnes of electronic waste (e-waste) that was illegally brought into Malaysia.
The department has seized 107 containers filled with e-waste worth over RM6.14 million between Aug 17 and Oct 4.
Its director-general Datuk Anis Rizana Mohd Zainudin said inter-agency cooperation was key to stopping syndicates from bringing in these shipments illegally.
"We will not work in silos here. In this instance we will liaise with the police to identify who was supposed to receive these containers," she told reporters at Wisma Kastam at Pulau Indah here on Monday.
Anis Rizana said under Ops E-Waste between Aug 17 and Oct 4, the department detected 107 shipping containers at Westport.
"We scanned these containers and found that they did not contain aluminium alloy, aluminium flakes, aluminium material and copper flakes as declared.
"The containers were inspected together with officials from the Department of Environment and we found 2,118.91 tonnes of e-waste that was brought in without the approval of the DOE director-general," she said adding that the e-waste was worth RM5.59million with RM558,579.18 in duties.
She said investigations revealed the containers originated from the American continent.
Meanwhile, Anis Rizana said they also seized 44 containers with 1,098.19 tonnes of scrap metal following checks at Westport on Sept 5.
"The scrap metal worth RM13.2 million was believed to have been brought in without valid import permits.
"During our checks, we found that the scrap metal was also declared as aluminium alloy, aluminium flakes, aluminium material and copper flakes," she said adding that the containers were believed to have arrived at Port Klang on Aug 13 from the American continent.
In August, Anis Rizana had said the department would collaborate with police to investigate the smuggling of e-waste into Malaysia and vowed not to allow Malaysia to be made a dumping ground for smuggled waste.
She said then that they had detected 10 attempts to smuggle in waste, including electronic waste.
Earlier in August, following a raid in Johor, illegal electronic waste processing plants caught the attention of the police.
Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Razarudin Husain had said they were paying serious attention to such plants, which were notorious for causing noise and air pollution.
He said the locations of these illegal plants would be determined in phases by the Anti-Money Laundering Criminal Investigation Unit in Bukit Aman.
Those with information on smuggling activities can contact the Customs toll-free hotline at 1800-88-8855 or go to the nearest Customs Department office.