SANDAKAN: The Royal Malaysian Customs Department (JKDM) detained a cargo ship in the waters off here attempting to smuggle out 111,391 litres of subsidised petrol to a neighbouring country last month.
Sabah JKDM Zone assistant director-general Siti Mang said the fuel was estimated to be worth RM228,351.55, with duties and taxes totalling RM66,834.60.
She said that based on a public top-off at 7.48 pm on Nov 19, a JKDM Enforcement Branch team with members drawn from Lahad Datu and Sandakan conducted a raid on a local cargo ship believed to be ferrying smuggled petrol.
“The raid team found the petrol in a specially designed tank on the ship. The ship’s skipper, who is a Malaysian, was detained to assist in the investigation. The ship has been seized and we are conducting a probe,“ she told a press conference here today.
She stressed that her department would work with other government agencies, especially the Domestic Trade and Costs of Living ministry, to crack down on the smuggling of subsidised fuel.
“This subsidised fuel should be utilised by our people. So it is our people’s well-being that must be taken care of,“ she said.
