BUKIT MERTAJAM: A lorry driver fled from his vehicle that had been modified to carry out subsidised diesel embezzlement activities by the side of the road in Bandar Perda after the man realised he was being followed by enforcement officers from the Penang Ministry of Domestic Trade and Cost of Living (KPDN), last Saturday.
Penang KPDN director S. Jegan said the enforcement officers who carried out Ops Tiris initially detected the 7-tonne lorry which was suspiciously refuelling at several petrol stations around the area before tailing the vehicle and at the same time the KPDN vehicle was also being followed by a tonto team in the 3 pm incident.
“Upon arriving at the side of the road near Perda City Mall building, the lorry driver, who is believed to have been tipped off by the tonto about our presence, abandoned the lorry and fled (with the tonto).
“Inspection on the lorry found that there was an additional metal tank at the back (of the lorry) containing 6,000 litres of subsidised diesel and two pump motor units and hoses in the lower part of the vehicle floor for the purpose of suctioning diesel from the original tank,“ he told a press conference here today.
Jegan said his team seized the subsidised diesel, the lorry and the equipment, all of which were worth RM73,500, and efforts were being made to trace the syndicate’s network in an effort to crack down on the activity.
“Since Ops Tiris was carried out on March 1 until yesterday, we have solved eight cases involving the confiscation of subsidised diesel amounting to 50,350 litres and a number of lorries and various equipment which are all worth RM369,231,“ he said, all the cases were investigated under the Control of Supplies Act 1961. - Bernama
