SANDAKAN: Security forces here conducted two separate raids on Thursday (June 12), thwarting attempts to smuggle subsidised cooking oil and petrol to a neighbouring country while also dismantling an illegal crude palm oil (CPO) transfer operation.
In a late-night Eastern Sabah Security Command (ESSCOM) coordinated operation around 10.30 pm, one man was arrested with 2,380 packets of subsidised cooking oil and 150 litres of petrol seized at a jetty along Jalan Datuk Tay. Three other suspects on a boat jumped into the river and escaped into nearby mangroves.
ESSCOM Commander DCP Datuk Victor Sanjos said Op Tiris 4.0, carried out with the Special Action Unit (UTK) based on intelligence, prevented the contraband from being smuggled to a neighbouring country. The total value of the seizure is estimated at RM101,508.
Earlier that morning, around 11.45 am, the Sandakan Marine Police and the Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB) busted an illegal CPO transfer along Jalan Check Point Batu 32. Four men aged between 34 and 44 – two locals and two Indonesians – were arrested at the scene.
A tanker lorry, a 3‑tonne box truck, approximately 39,980 kg of CPO, as well as six IBC tanks, a pump engine, two drums, and a hose used in the illegal activity were confiscated. The seizure is valued at RM424,210.
The ESSCOM case is being investigated under the Immigration Act 1953/69 and the Control of Supplies Act 1961, while the Marine Police case falls under the Malaysian Palm Oil Board Licensing Regulations 2005.
Both agencies reaffirmed their commitment to combating smuggling and misappropriation of subsidised and strategic commodities in eastern Sabah to protect the nation’s economic security and well-being. – James Leong
The subsidised cooking oil confiscated during the ESSCOM coordinated operation in Sandakan on Friday night.
