LAHAD DATU: Eastern Sabah Security Command (ESSCom) marine police team seized 110 plastic canisters believed filled with petrol that were hidden half buried in the ground in the bushes at Kampung Pangkalan Felda Sahabat 16 on Saturday.
ESSCom commander DCP Dato’ Hazani Ghazali in a statement yesterday said that the attempt to smuggle out the canisters failed when a marine police team raided the area following public tip-off.
He said during the 1.30 pm operation, the team conducted a search of the bushes and found several plastic canisters (believed to contain petrol) half buried in the ground and covered up with tree branches and leaves.
“It is believed that the petrol in the canisters was about to be smuggled out to a neighboring country. We will be investigating further to find out the mastermind of this activity,” he said.
“All the seized canisters were taken back to the marine police force base for investigation and will be handed over to the Ministry of Domestic Trade, Cooperative and Consumerism for investigation under the Control of Supply Act 1961,” he added.
Hazani praised the security forces, especially the marine police team, in always striving and taking necessary steps to tighten security in our waters, including foiling attempts to smuggle out petrol to a neighbouring country and preventing it from falling into the hands of cross-border criminals.
He said ESSCom had directed security forces in the Eastern Sabah Security Zone (ESSZone) to tighten security controls, especially at the border areas and to cripple smuggling networks believed to be mainly made of illegal immigrants.
“This activity needs serious attention from ESSCom, as based on our intelligence, illegal immigrants have been identified as the main smugglers in attempts to smuggle out petrol that would eventually be used by cross-border criminals for criminal purposes like kidnapping,” he added.