Penang Domestic Trade and Cost of Living Ministry seizes 22,840 litres of subsidised diesel
BUKIT MERTAJAM - The Penang branch of the Domestic Trade and Cost of Living Ministry crippled a syndicate suspected of embezzling subsidised diesel and seized a tanker with 22,840 litres of fuel worth almost RM50,000 in a raid yesterday.
State enforcement chief A Morgan, said the Ops Tapis raid on an unlicenced store in Permatang Pauh here at 4pm, uncovered the activities of the syndicate which had been operating in the state for the past month.
"Acting on information from intelligence carried out since last week, we detected a lorry filling up diesel at several gas stations around the state before delivering them to the store.
"Our enforcement team observed that the lorry was transferring diesel to the storage area which had two tanks that can each hold up to over 21,000 litres of diesel although one was empty when we moved in,” he said here today.
He said the raiding party arrested the lorry driver who claimed to be making four to six trips every day to buy subsidised diesel which added up to 6,000 litres and were filled into the storage tank Mogan said the syndicate would pool subsidised diesel for a period of three to four days until the (two) tanks were full before re-selling it to buyers for a profit of RM0.30 per litre or RM6,000 to RM7,000 per tank-load sold.
He said the syndicate rented the storage area which is in a snug location concealed by padi fields and far off the main road for RM3,000 per month to avoid detection while the place was also tightly guarded and the main entrance could only be entered by activating a remote control device.
"The modus operandi of the syndicate is very cunning because the area appears to be a storage for fertiliser to foil detection. But in reality, the syndicate is believed to reap in a profit of more than RM30,000 a month with their embezzlement activities,” he said.
He said in addition to the subsidised diesel, the ministry also seized a lorry, tanks, a motor pump and a mobile phone all worth RM95,406 for further investigation under the Supply Control Act 1961. - BERNAMA
