Perlis smugglers nabbed with modified cars hauling 373 litres of RON95

Credit: Utusan Malaysia

The office of the Ministry of Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs (KPDNHEP) successfully foiled an attempt to smuggle  subsidised RON95 fuel through a raid at a petrol station in Perlis yesterday.

The operation, was held yesterday morning at 9.15AM following intelligence work carried out over the past few weeks by the Perlis PKPDNHEP officers.

According to Perlis state KPDNHEP director Norazah Jaapar,  she said that during the raid, a Proton Persona was being filled up with subsidised RON95 petrol whilst another Proton Saga had just finished doing the same.

"A preliminary inspection of the two vehicles revealed that the Proton Persona had been modified with an additional tank which the agency suspected to have subsidised contained RON95 petrol. In addition, a jerry can containing the same subsidized petrol type was also found in the vehicle."

Norazah further added that her team found three more jerry cans in the Proton Saga which they suspected also contained the controlled fuel. A total of 373 liters of RON95 fuel were confiscated from the four jerry cans and modified Persona, which were reportedly valued at RM20,804.65.

“Investigation papers had been opened under the Supply Control Act (AKB) 1961 while two local suspects aged between 30 and 50 were also detained to assist the investigation," Norazah adds. Further investigation reveals that the modus operandi used by this syndicate was to buy the subsidised fuel at several petrol stations in the state before selling it to another party across the border.

There has undoubtedly been other instances of this all over Malaysia, notably in states that borders with other neighbouring nations. In May this year, some syndicates that were illegally supplying subsidised petrol and diesel have collapsed in Perlis thank to the ministry's efforts in said state through intelligence collection and raids.

Credit: BERNAMA

Most also practised a similar modus operandi of acquiring subsidised fuel at petrol stations and store it for resale to foreign vehicles near Padang Besar. The Edge Markets reports that in the first five months of this year, there has been a significant increase in both number of cases and the value of subsidised RON95 fuel that have been seized.

During the same period, 54 cases were recorded involving subsidised RON95 fuels seized worth RM365,116. Compared to the same period last year, just 49 cases were recorded, which invovled up to RM96,787 worth of subsidised RON95 fuels.

In contrast, KPDNHEP recorded 128 cases involving diesel during the same period this year, with seizures totaling RM3.06 million. This marks an increase from the 52 cases with seizures totaling RM2.2 million recorded from the same period last year.