KUALA LUMPUR, May 20 — The police arrested 10 individuals, including a woman, in six raids conducted by the Wildlife Crime Bureau/Special Investigation Intelligence unit (WCB/PSK) in six states, with the total seizures valued at RM5.458 million.

Bukit Aman Internal Security and Public Order Department director Datuk Seri Mohd Kamarudin Md Din said four men were arrested in connection with the seizure of 98,400 litres of subsidised diesel in the first raid in Puchong, Selangor on May 14.

“An oil tanker, a trailer lorry, two containers, and two intermediate bulk containers with an estimated value of RM1.033 million were also seized,” he said in a statement today.

In the second raid in Besut, Terengganu on May 15, he said they arrested a man and seized, among others, 44 ball pythons, 11 boas, a mangrove snake and a Burmese python worth RM155,504.

In the third raid in Sibu, Sarawak, in collaboration with the Malaysian Checkpoints and Border Agency (MCBA), the Sibu branch Kawalselia Padi dan Beras and the Department of Veterinary Services Sarawak on May 15, Mohd Kamarudin said they arrested a local man and seized 649,750 kilogrammes of imported rice worth RM2.121 million.

Mohd Kamarudin said that in the fourth raid in Sibu on the same day, the police seized 5,831 boxes of frozen food containing various parts of chicken totalling RM1.880 million.

Immediate compounds totalling RM25,000 were imposed under Section 9(3) of the Veterinary Public Health Ordinance 1999.

In the fifth raid in Gombak, here on May 16, he said they arrested a local man and a woman and seized a greater green leafbird, black-crested bulbul, yellow-whiskered bulbul, hanging parrot, white-breasted waterhen and common iora bird, with an estimated value of RM10,250.

According to him, in the sixth raid in Kota Kinabalu, the unit seized 52.944 kilogrammes of subsidised coarse sugar valued at RM256,626.

Meanwhile, Mohd Kamarudin said that from January 1 to May 19, 78 raids were conducted nationwide and a total of 172 individuals were arrested to combat wildlife smuggling activities, controlled goods leakage, and undeclared goods, with the total seizure amounting to RM194.672 million. — Bernama