FOILED ATTEMPT: Saleh shows the modified tank fitted onto the carriage of one of the detained lorries.
KUCHING: The Marine Operations Force (MOF) foiled two separate attempts to smuggle subsidised diesel within an hour of each other along the same road on Tuesday night.
State MOF chief ACP Saleh Mat Jani revealed that a team led by ASP Rizalman Zulkifli stopped a Toyota lorry along Jalan Setia Raja in Pending at 10pm following a tip-off.
“Upon inspection, the team discovered a modified tank fitted into the lorry’s carriage which contained 2,000 litres of diesel and detained the 30-year-old local driver,” Saleh told a press conference yesterday.
The same police team then waited along the same road and stopped a second lorry about an hour later, and similarly discovered a modified tank fitted in the rear carriage.
“A check found that the tank contained a further 2,000 litres of diesel fuel, resulting in the team arresting the 33-year-old local driver,” said Saleh, adding that the value of the lorries and diesel seized totalled RM32,200.
The two cases — the first seizures made by the MOF this year — will be handed over to the Ministry of Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism for further action.
During the same press conference, Saleh also disclosed that an MOF raid in Bintangor led to the discovery and seizure of smuggled cigarettes and illegal firecrackers on Tuesday night.
The 10.15pm raid, led by ASP Mohd Salam Sapawi, netted 59,440 sticks of smuggled cigarettes and 32 boxes of firecrackers worth an estimated RM55,910.
A 48-year-old local man, believed to be keeping watch over the store, was also arrested at the scene for further investigation.