BATU KAWAN, Feb 28 (Bernama) -- The tactic of a syndicate parking tankers on the side of a dead-end road near a residential area to illegally transfer diesel was successfully uncovered by the Penang Ministry of Domestic Trade and Cost of Living (KPDN) in a raid at Taman Perdana Simpang Ampat, this morning.
State KPDN director S. Jegan said the raid was carried out by a team of enforcement officers at 5 am as a result of six months of intelligence after suspecting fraudulent activities by the syndicate in the area.
He said it was a new modus operandi in Penang when the syndicate dared to take the risk by parking a tanker with a capacity of 24,000 litres in an open area.
“Investigations found that this tanker lorry had been left here for about a month, while another lorry that acted as a ‘mobile warehouse’ would come carrying a load of diesel for the purpose of transfer.
“After being fully filled, this tanker lorry would move to make a delivery to a certain location,” he told reporters at a press conference at the location, today.
Jegan said that although the area was quite busy, the illegal activity went unnoticed because the syndicate chose early morning hours to operate to avoid being detected by the authorities.
He said that when the raid was carried out, there were three individuals who were transferring to the tanker lorry with a 29-year-old local man who is believed to be the lorry driver being arrested, while two other individuals suspected to be foreigners fled to a nearby bush area.
He said that an inspection found that about 14,000 litres of diesel were in the tanker lorry, in addition to six IBC tanks found in another lorry.
KPDN also raided an unnumbered warehouse in the Simpang Ampat area which is believed to be the diesel storage location before being transferred to the tanker lorry.
In total, Jegan said his party had seized a 14-tonne canvas lorry, a 24,000-litre tanker lorry, 12 units of IBC tanks, three pump motors, three rubber hoses and a mobile phone with a total value of the seizure estimated at RM200,000.
Further investigations are still underway and the case is being investigated under the Control of Supplies Act 1961.
-- BERNAMA
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