WHEN did you last see a "habis" (out of supply) sign on a RON95 fuel pump?
Head north to Kuala Nerang in Kedah before you say never. There, it has become a monthly affair, vehicle owners tell this newspaper.
Petrol stations in Kelantan and Perlis, two other states bordering Thailand, are also being drained of RON95 as smugglers from here and the neighbouring country switch from unsubsidised diesel to subsidised petrol.
With subsidy, RON95's pump price per litre is RM2.05. Not that diesel smuggling has been eliminated. It can't be so long as diesel is cheaper in Thailand.
Even with the pump price of RM3.50 per litre since June 10, diesel is still cheaper (by 7 baht per litre) across the border. Pirating petrol is more lucrative — a bonanza of 21.38 baht per litre — though harder to execute.
Lorries — smugglers' standard means of transport — can't pass off for petrol vehicles. Cars are, with some exceptions, made to run on petrol. With an extra large tank in the boot or under the back seat, they are good to make the journey across the border.
Several things stand in the way of eliminating fuel smuggling. One is fuel prices. Malaysia, in theory, can make its fuel prices equal to that of those across the border.
This will be a political hot potato. Two is border control. Even with a tweak here and there by enforcement agencies, smugglers are still getting through Malaysian checkpoints.
By just the regularity of the illicit vehicle crossings and volume of fuel getting through the checkpoints, it is clear that the smugglers are having inside help.
Familiarity of officers stationed at the checkpoints with the local smugglers makes it harder for them to act against them.
One solution is to implement a staff rotation system that makes it impossible for such intimacy to set in. Such a system has another advantage.
It prevents intimidation of officers by smugglers, who are known to use threats to families when money fails to make them look the other way.
And threats don't remain as threats, as we have witnessed these turn into killings over the years. The other is to get technology to do the job that humans can't. Like keeping an eye on the long porous border with Thailand.
There are more soldiers and other enforcement officers there keeping an eye on the many rat lanes, but still it is hard to cover them all. Drones can.
Smugglers in Malaysia and Thailand are a part of a huge pyramid, our final point. At the bottom are the smugglers who pirate petrol from Malaysia and the fuel vendors who peddle it in bottles in the streets across the border.
At the apex is the filthy rich "don", with everyone else at his service. Squeezing the smugglers here isn't enough because to do so will only net the bottom feeders. This doesn't mean that the law must spare them.
Being akin to traitors, they deserve a punishing penalty. To catch the shark or sharks higher up, the net must be cast wider.
Enforcement can't cross borders, but diplomacy can. This is a job for Putrajaya and Bangkok. Diplomacy often works where others fail.