Tan (right, in uniform) and his men point at the lorries they seized.
MIRI: Miri Battalion 12 General Operations Force (GOF) and Miri Land and Survey Department seized 20 lorries and two excavators suspected to be used for illegal sand dredging at a piece of land behind Miri Go-Cart in Permyjaya here on Thursday.
The vehicles seized were worth a total RM2.8 million.
Miri GOF commanding officer Supt Tan Hiap Seng when met at the scene disclosed that 22 people (drivers of the lorries and excavators) were apprehended by the GOF for questioning.
“The arrest was a success following a week’s surveillance work by GOF and enforcement officers from Miri Land and Survey. It was the biggest haul for Miri this year. During the morning operation, the team spotted the lorries and excavators dredging for sand in the area,” Tan said.
During the 8am operation, 20 lorries were seen converged in two separate locations within the state’s land, 10 of the lorries were laden with sand while another 10 waiting to be loaded. When interrogated, the lorry drivers failed to produce any permits which prompted the GOF’s enforcement officers, led by ASP Zawi Idris, to pull them in for questioning.
Investigation revealed that the company which hired the lorries had no permit to dredge for sand. It is believed that the lorry’s drivers were transporting the sand from one location to another.
“We discovered that the sand was to be transported to a site in Padang Kerbau for the construction of a polyclinic,” Tan said. The case is being investigated under Section 32A of State Land Code.