KOTA BHARU, Jan 13 (Bernama) -- The Ministry of Domestic Trade and Cost of Living (KPDN) has foiled an attempt to smuggle subsidised cooking oil and sugar, orchestrated by licensed retailers at an illegal base in Pasir Mas, near the Malaysia-Thailand border today.
Kelantan KPDN deputy director Aswadi Jaafar said the operation was carried out at about 2 pm following a public tip-off of suspicious and repeated transfers of controlled goods in the area.
“Acting on the information, KPDN enforcement officers, together with personnel from the 9th Battalion of the General Operations Force, conducted surveillance over four days and found that four Proton Waja cars were being used in the smuggling activity.
“Further intelligence revealed that the smugglers unloaded large quantities of cooking oil and sugar before transporting them to the illegal base known as ‘Lan Bundle’. The supplies were then transferred into boats to be smuggled across the Golok River to the border,” he said in a statement.
Aswadi added that during the raid, a suspect jumped into the Golok River and managed to escape.
“A search of the vehicle led to the discovery of 96 kg of sugar and 510 kg of cooking oil,” he said.
-- BERNAMA
