BUTTERWORTH: The Penang Domestic Trade and Cost of Living Ministry (KPDN) seized 54,564 litres of subsidised diesel worth RM117,312 during a raid carried out under Ops Tiris 3.0 at a store in Jalan Bagan Lalang 1, here yesterday.
State KPDN director S. Jegan said the raid was carried out together with a police team from the Penang Zone 1 Marine Police after gathering information from the public and carrying out surveillance.
“We received information about the embezzlement of subsidised diesel before a check was conducted at an unnumbered store. During the inspection, four skid tanks, 15 IBC tanks, five pumps and hoses used for transferring diesel was also seized.
“Further investigations revealed that a pump was attached to a skid tank and diesel was being transferred to another container. The total amount of subsidised diesel seized was 54,564 litres worth RM117,312.60 while other equipment used for the activities worth RM2,100 was also seized,“ he said in a statement today.
Jegan said there was no one inside the store during the raid but investigations are being carried out to identify those involved in the illegal activity.
He did not rule out the possibility that the activity was being carried out by a syndicate that buys subsidised diesel using lorries that are modified with hidden tanks and the diesel is stored at the illegal store before being sold to unsuspecting third parties at a higher price.
