In Perlis, syndicates involved in subsidised fuel smuggling have switched tactics in a bid to avoid detection by authorities, doing so by dispersing transactions across multiple legitimate users who do not fully utilise their fuel quota, the New Straits Times reports.
According to Perlis internal security and public order department chief ACP Gun Kan Seng, the method represents a departure from earlier practices, which relied heavily on modified vehicles and altered fuel tanks to obtain subsidised fuel in bulk. “We believe some syndicates target users who use only a small portion of their quota, such as motorcyclists, before exploiting the remaining allocation,” he said.
“Intelligence also indicates that syndicates may be using the identity cards of such users to maximise repeated refuelling transactions at petrol stations, allowing fuel to be accumulated over time before being consolidated at illegal storage sites for further distribution and smuggling across the border,” he said, adding that seven police reports were lodged involving missing fuel quotas, with investigations still ongoing.
He said that since the launch of Op Tiris 4.0, authorities in Perlis have recorded 14 cases involving the smuggling of subsidised fuel, with enforcement resulting in total seizures of fuel valued at an estimated RM455,375. Of the total, three cases involved raids on illegal fuel storage sites used by syndicates to accumulate fuel before redistribution.
“Two illegal storage sites were raided in the Padang Besar area, while another was located in Kuala Perlis near the coastal area,” he said, stating that these enforcement operations had effectively disrupted such activities, with no further active storage areas detected presently.
Gun said authorities were continuing intelligence and monitoring efforts to prevent attempts to revive illegal storage operations, particularly along known smuggling routes and border crossings.
He said that out of the 42 petrol stations in Perlis, six have been identified as hotspots and another four as potential hotspots for subsidy leakage. Enforcement has been intensified at these locations, with the general operations force (GOF) deployed on static duty there, while task force units conduct regular patrols at other identified sites.
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