BUKIT MERTAJAM: Two premises belonging to a wholesale company in Taman Impian Ria Alma here were raided by the Penang Domestic Trade and Cost of Living Ministry (KPDN) after receiving information that the premises were storing packets of cooking oil in excess of the permitted quantity.
State KPDN director S. Jegan said during the raid, police seized 15,310 kilogrammes of packet cooking oil estimated to be worth RM58,275, the largest seizure recorded by the Penang KPDN this year.
He said the raid, which began at 2pm, was carried out by a team of 13 enforcement officers based on information from the public and intelligence over the past month after suspecting that there was an activity of smuggling packet cooking oil at the premises.
“The inspection found that one of these premises has a valid licence to wholesale cooking oil, wheat flour and sugar but the allowed amount is only 5,000 kg while the adjacent premises are not licensed to store controlled goods including packet cooking oil.
“Inspections at the two premises found more than 15 tonnes of packet cooking oil believed to have been misappropriated for distribution to retailers and restaurants, but investigations are still ongoing,“ he told reporters when met at the site today.
According to Jegan, during the raid, police also arrested the premises owner, a 47-year-old local man and two 40-year-old Bangladeshi workers, and during the raid they were transferring supplies into trucks suspected for distribution around the state.
He said a check on the logbook found that it was updated but the quantity of supplies recorded was not the same as the amount found during the operation.
“We have also identified the manufacturer suspected of supplying this packet cooking oil to the wholesaler but further investigation is still being carried out to identify the extent of the involvement of the parties with this misappropriation activity,“ he said.
Jegan said the case would be investigated under the Control of Supplies Act 1961 and warned that firm action will be taken against such offences and offenders, including terminating their licences.
