BATU KAWAN, Feb 28 — A syndicate’s tactic of parking tankers along a dead-end road near a residential area to illegally transfer diesel was uncovered by the Penang Ministry of Domestic Trade and Cost of Living (KPDN) during a raid at Taman Perdana, Simpang Ampat, early today.
State KPDN director S. Jegan said enforcement officers conducted the 5am raid after six months of intelligence gathering into suspected fraudulent activities in the area.
He described the operation as a new modus operandi in Penang, with the syndicate brazenly parking a 24,000-litre tanker in an open area.
“Investigations found that this tanker lorry had been left here for about a month, while another lorry that acted as a ‘mobile warehouse’ would come carrying a load of diesel for the purpose of transfer.
“After being fully filled, this tanker lorry would move to make a delivery to a certain location,” he told reporters at the scene.
Jegan said the illegal activity went unnoticed despite the area being busy, as the syndicate operated in the early morning to avoid detection.
During the raid, officers found three individuals transferring diesel into the tanker.
A 29-year-old local man believed to be the lorry driver was arrested, while two other suspects, believed to be foreigners, fled into a nearby bush.
An inspection revealed about 14,000 litres of diesel in the tanker lorry, along with six intermediate bulk container (IBC) tanks in another lorry.
KPDN also raided an unnumbered warehouse in Simpang Ampat believed to have been used to store diesel before it was transferred to the tanker.
In total, authorities seized a 14-tonne canvas lorry, a 24,000-litre tanker lorry, 12 IBC tanks, three pump motors, three rubber hoses and a mobile phone, with the total value of the seizure estimated at RM200,000.
Further investigations are ongoing and the case is being probed under the Control of Supplies Act 1961.
