Caught in the act: The suspect was found manning a boat with 250 litres of smuggled petrol.
KOTA KINABALU: The Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) is closely monitoring petrol smuggling activities, particularly those involving runners operating in small groups.
This follows the latest arrest of a man suspected of ferrying fuel out of Sabah from waters off Tawau last Saturday.
Tawau maritime zone director Maritime Capt Shahrizan Raman said the 24-year-old suspect, believed to be a runner for smuggling gang, was spotted manning a speedboat near Pulau Tiga at 9.55pm.
He said the enforcement team found 10 containers holding a total of 250 litres of petrol on the boat.
He said the seized petrol and boat had been hauled to the Tawau maritime jetty for further investigations under the Supply Control Act 1961 and the Ports and Harbours Enactment 2002.
“We do not rule out the presence of more runners operating quietly in and out of Tawau. We are taking strict and drastic measures to put an end to these illegal activities,” he added.
Announcing the Tawau zone’s achievements for 2024, Shahrizan said 108 arrests were made for various offences following the inspection of 9,187 vessels.
“The total seizure was worth about RM12.2mil, a record high in decades,” he said, adding that the town’s location at the Malaysian-Indonesian border has presented challenges to the agency.
“We will continue to enforce the law and optimise operations to curb crime in Tawau, especially in areas under the Eastern Sabah Security Zone (Esscom),” he said.
Meanwhile, a two-day operation to detect hotspots within the Felda Sahabat and Kunat waters on the east coast of Sabah was carried out by MMEA and Esscom.
Lahad Datu zone director Maritime Commander Dzulfikhar Ali said no suspicious activities were detected.
He said the operation, conducted in collaboration with Esscom sea operations chief of staff Maritime First Admiral Abd Razak Mohamed, also served as an exercise to better prepare for future crackdowns and other operations.Reviewing the zone’s performance for 2024, Dzulfikhar said 9,321 vessels had been examined and some 12,000 people had been screened in addition to 88 briefings on safety at sea.
