GOF Seizes Latex, Machinery Worth Over RM700,000 In Taiping

IPOH, Aug 9 (Bernama) -- The Ulu Kinta General Operations Force (GOF) seized 35,400 kilogrammes (kg) of latex as well as various machinery worth RM789,132.04 in a raid on premises in Taiping yesterday.

Its Northern Brigade GOF commander, Senior Assistant Commissioner Shahrum Hashim said four local men and a Pakistani national, aged 32 to 59 years, were also arrested in an enforcement operation codenamed Op Intra.

He said the operation between 2.30 am and 6 pm was carried out by the Northern Brigade Intelligence Branch of the GOF, assisted by the Malaysian Rubber Board (MRB), Taiping Municipal Council and Taiping district police headquarters.

“The operation team has been detecting the misappropriation of latex for the past two months. It had been following a tanker truck carrying latex from Kedah to a premises in Taiping.

"At the premises, the process of transferring the latex was carried out by the suspect using a hose pipe into an IBC (Intermediate Bulk Container) tank, with a capacity of 1,000 kg," he said in a statement today.

Shahrum said the result of an inspection found the suspect (driver of the tanker truck) had sold 900 kg of latex.

“The suspect also used a cunning trick by replacing the weight of the latex that had been sold with several units of iron weights placed on the body of the tanker truck.

"This act was done so that the customer receiving the latex would not realise the reduced weight of the latex during the reweighing process," he said.

In addition, he said the Pakistani man had been detained under Regulation 39(b) of the Immigration Act 1959/63 for violating the terms of his work permit, while the others who were arrested and the seizures were handed over to the MRB for further investigations.

He added that the case is being investigated under the MRB (Licensing and Permit) Regulations 2014 and Regulation 7(1)f, and that MRB can impose compounds and revoke licences if violations of licence conditions are proven.

-- BERNAMA