KAJANG - Police have smashed a syndicate for misappropriating subsidised diesel with the arrest of 11 men through two raids in Jalan Semenyih, near here, last Thursday.
Selangor police chief, Datuk Arjunaidi Mohamed said the raids were conducted at two warehouses by the Criminal Investigation Department of the Selangor police contingent headquarters and the Royal Malaysia Police (PDRM) drone unit after receiving complaints from the public.
He said the 11 suspects comprising seven locals and four foreign nationals, who were lorry drivers and general workers, aged 19 to 59.
"The investigation found that the syndicate, active for three months, had modified lorries and four-wheel-drive cars to purchase diesel from petrol stations around Kajang.
"When the modified tanks of the vehicles are full, the diesel would be transferred into storage tanks in the warehouses before being resold to industrial operators at RM4 to RM5 per litre,” he said at a press conference today.
Arjunaidi said eight modified vehicles comprising seven bonded lorries and a Toyota Hilux, as well as 94,450 litres of diesel worth about RM1.5 million were seized.
The government has incurred an estimated loss of RM203,057 due to this misappropriation of diesel.
All the suspects who have no previous criminal records are being remanded for five days until tomorrow.
They have been handed over to the Ministry of Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs for further investigation under Section 21 of the Control of Supplies Act 1961 and Regulation 3(1) of the Control of Supplies Regulations 1974. - BERNAMA