TAWAU: The district police scored two successes in separate cases after a foreigner was arrested for going on a rampage at a plantation workers’ housing area in Merotai Kecil, while nine LPG cylinders worth RM2,346 were seized under Op Tiris 4.0 at the public jetty, old Customs, Immigration, Quarantine and Security (CIQS) complex.
OCPD ACP Rosdi Mat Jusoh on Oct 3 said in the first case, a police report was lodged after the complainant received complaints from plantation workers about a man who ran amok and threw stones at the workers’ housing area. The suspect was also believed to have repeatedly caused disturbances in the area, frightening workers and their families.
Acting on information received, a team from Bombalai Police Station, together with Auxiliary Police personnel, arrested the suspect—a 48-year-old man—at the playground hut area in the Merotai Kecil Plantation workers’ housing area. Preliminary investigations found that he was a foreigner staying in Malaysia without valid travel documents. He was taken to Tawau Police Station for further action and investigation. No seizures were recorded, and the case is being investigated under Section 506 of the Penal Code.
In the second case, Rosdi said Op Tiris 4.0 was conducted by Tawau Police Station and the Task Force of the District Internal Security and Public Order Division (BKDNKA) at the old CIQS public jetty. During checks and surveillance at the facility, the operation team found nine LPG cylinders hidden under a staircase.
Surveillance showed that no one came forward to claim the items. Further checks found six cylinders empty while three still contained gas. All the LPG cylinders were seized and taken to Tawau Police Station before being handed over to enforcement officers from the Ministry of Domestic Trade and Cost of Living Tawau for further action.
The total estimated value of the seizure was RM2,346, and the case is being investigated under the Control of Supplies Act 1961.
Op Tiris, which is being conducted continuously at the old CIQS jetty, is part of the police’s efforts to curb smuggling, the entry of undocumented migrants, and the leakage of controlled goods through the public jetty, a route used to enter and exit the district. – James Leong
Rosdi said the suspect was also believed to have repeatedly caused disturbances in the area, frightening workers and their families.
