The Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) seized 8,000 litres of diesel worth RM16,000 from a fishing boat after foiling an attempt to smuggle the oil cargo illegally in waters off Kuala Perlis on Friday (24 March), reports Manifold Times.
Diesel smuggling thwarted
Kuala Perlis MMEA Maritime Zone director Mohd Hashim Mat Zain said the arrest was made based on information from the Kuala Perlis MMEA’s Intelligence Unit for the past few weeks. Hashim said a MMEA patrol boat spotted the fishing boat passing at 5.23pm, 2.3 nautical miles west of Kuala Perlis.
At the time of inspection, the boat was operated by a skipper and three crew members, two of whom are locals and another two are from Thailand, aged 39 and 46.
“Further inspections on the boat found that the vessel had been modified with an additional oil tank, believed to be done in an attempt to smuggle its content into neighbouring countries,” he said in a statement.
Aside from the diesel, MME also confiscated the boat and engine, bringing the total value of seizure to an estimated RM216,000.
The case is being investigated under the Fisheries Act 1985 for modifying vessel with an additional fuel tank without permission and violating the conditions of the licence, the Supply Control Act 1961 for attempting to smuggle out subsidised diesel and Section 239 of the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission Act 1988 for the use and possession of non-standard communication devices.
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Source: Manifold Times
