GOF Busts Illegal Plastic Processing Op, Seizes RM8.5 Mln Haul

IPOH, April 1 (Bernama) -- The General Operations Force (GOF) Ulu Kinta seized about 145,000 kilogrammes of plastic waste and machinery worth RM8.5 million in a raid on an unlicensed plastic processing premises in Sungai Siput yesterday.

Northern Brigade GOF commander SAC Balveer Singh said the noon raid, conducted by the Intelligence Branch of Battalion 3 with the cooperation of the Perak Department of Environment (DOE) and Sungai Siput district police headquarters (IPD) Criminal Investigation Division, was part of Ops Taring Alpha 5.

In a statement today, he said a local woman in her 40s, believed to be the premises owner, was detained.

“Inspection found the premises had been operating plastic processing facilities without DOE approval, with large quantities of processed and unprocessed plastic waste, as well as machinery, seized,” he said.

Further checks revealed the premises had been operating for over three years, sourcing plastic waste from industrial areas in Kulim before processing and sending it to the Klang Valley for resin production.

The case has been handed over to the Perak DOE for investigation under Section 34A(6) of the Environmental Quality Act 1974 (Amendment) 2024, with the agency also ordering an immediate halt to the waste-washing operations under Section 38(1)(a) of the same Act.

Balveer said stern action would be taken against those operating without approval and urged the public to provide information to assist enforcement efforts.

-- BERNAMA