GOF patrol foils cooking oil smugglers at Malaysia-Thai border

KOTA BHARU, July 26 (Bernama) -- The 7th Battalion (PGA7) of the General Operations Force (GOF) seized 1,030 kilogrammes (kg) of subsidised cooking oil in packets worth RM2,575 when it foiled smugglers in two separate operations at illegal bases on the Malaysia-Thailand border in Kelantan on Wednesday.

A reliable source said that in the first incident at 8.30 pm on July 24, the GOF team patrolling the Tok Uban area in Pasir Mas spotted a suspicious Proton Iswara car.

When ordered to stop, the driver fled on foot into a nearby housing area.

“From an inspection of the car, we found 799 packets of cooking oil worth RM1,997.50 that we suspect were being smuggled to a neighbouring country,” the source said.

Meanwhile, in a separate case last night, the PGA7 also confiscated 231 kgs of packet oil worth RM577.50 and arrested a 58-year-old man at the Kak Yam illegal (jetty) base in Rantau Panjang, Pasir Mas.

According to the source, during the raid held at 10.15 pm, PGA7 soldiers patrolling around the illegal base had seen a group of men loading boxes and plastic packages into a Proton Wira car.

“The men hastily fled by boat to the side of Thailand, while a 58-year-old man standing unnerved near the car was arrested and who admitted to be the owner of the goods,” it said.

The source said the total loot in the two raids including two cars (worth RM16,000) seized was estimated at RM18,575.

Meanwhile, Kelantan director of the Ministry of Domestic Trade and Cost of Living (KPDN) Azman Ismail confirmed receiving the confiscated items from PGA7 yesterday.

He said KPDN will conduct further investigations of the case under the Control of Supplies Act 1961. 

-- BERNAMA