By Aida Aziz
Photo KPDN Perak
MANJUNG: A company involved in seafood harvesting activities in Pantai Remis was raided after being found to have misappropriated subsidized diesel, a controlled item.
The Director of the Perak Ministry of Domestic Trade and Cost of Living (KPDN), Datuk Kamalludin Ismail, said the operation—Ops Tiris 3.0—was carried out by KPDN enforcement officers from the Manjung branch on Wednesday.
“Based on inspections and intelligence, the syndicate’s modus operandi involved modifying the vessel’s original 3,000-liter tank by adding an auxiliary tank with a 7,000-liter capacity.
“The diesel supply was suspected to be purchased using another vessel’s quota at subsidized prices, which was then sold to industrial parties in Pantai Remis,” he said in a statement on Thursday.
He added that during the raid, one vessel was caught in the act of transferring diesel from the ship’s tank to a skid tank using a hose and suction pump.
The skid tank is a storage facility for unsubsidized diesel and is believed to have been used to collect diesel acquired through the misappropriation scheme.
“Documents related to purchases and sales, as well as quota cards from other vessels suspected to be used in this scheme, were also found.
“Preliminary investigations revealed that the premises also had a license to store scheduled controlled items, including unsubsidized diesel with a permitted storage limit of 58,000 liters for C2 category fishing vessels,” he said.
Following this, a 32-year-old local man who claimed to be the owner of the premises was detained.
Additionally, approximately 50,900 liters of liquid suspected to be diesel—found in the vessel and skid tank—as well as a drift netting vessel and fuel-siphoning equipment, were seized for further investigation.
Kamalludin stated that the value of the seized items is estimated at RM355,040, and the case will be investigated under the Supply Control Act 1961 and Supply Control Regulations 1974.
