Massive haul: GOF personnel with some of the RM1.3bil worth of e-waste and processing equipment seized at the illegal factory in Sungai Siput. — Bernama
IPOH: A number of the bags were declared as food items, but inside were tonnes of e-waste and dross from various countries.
The waste, along with various heavy machinery, worth about RM1.3bil, was seized by the General Operations Force (GOF) and the Perak Environment Department (DOE) during a raid on an illegal e-waste processing factory in Kanthan, Sungai Siput, on Saturday.
GOF northern brigade commander Senior Asst Comm Shahrum Hashim said the waste was transported to the factory from Port Klang using containers.
“Some of the bags were tagged as foodstuff, salt, and animal feed, but when we checked, we found e-waste and dross.
“We believe the waste is from various countries, including China, the US, and Bolivia,” he said during a press conference at the factory yesterday.
“We’ve also seized vehicles and machinery used for smelting and processing, and a laboratory to break down and identify materials such as gold, tin, and copper.”
SAC Shahrum said the raid was conducted after a month-long investigation.
“The waste would be processed into bullions or blocks and be exported to other countries to be processed again,” he added.
This comes after raids on e-waste processing facilities in Selangor and Johor over the weekend.
He added that the DOE was conducting an inventory exercise and taking samples of the waste found.
“They have identified some e-waste containing heavy metals like aluminium, arsenic, mercury and lead.
“Official samples will be sent to the National Chemistry Depart-ment for analysis to identify the specific composition of the waste,” he added.
SAC Shahrum said the case would be investigated under Section 34B(1)(a) and Section 18(1) of the Environmental Quality Act.
“The factory is not registered with the DOE to process e-waste and has been operating illegally.
“There are four buildings within the 4.8ha premises, with another block being built,” he said, adding that the factory had been operating for eight to nine months.
“They are also in the midst of setting up the perimeter wall and have been pumping water for use from a former mining pool nearby,” he added.
SAC Shahrum said the raid also led to the arrests of 27 people, including two locals as well as foreign workers from China and Myanmar.
“Among those arrested were a 60-year-old scientist from China who ran the laboratory and a two-year-old boy of one of the Myanmar workers,” he said.
“Some of the Chinese workers have travel documents but without stamps, while the Myanmar workers do not have proper documents.
“Those arrested have been sent to the Sungai Siput police headquarters for the next course of action,” he said.
Perak DOE deputy director (development) Muhamad Rizal Ramli said it would take about two weeks to conduct the inventory exercise.
“There are thousands of bags, each weighing between one and two tonnes, to be checked, so there are a lot of things to do.
“This is the biggest seizure of e-waste in the state since 2020, so it will take time,” he said, adding that the factory did not submit an environmental impact assessment, and thus did not have a permit or licence to operate.
