SERI ISKANDAR, June 9 — The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) is on the lookout for several more individuals involved in the container tax evasion case, including a Singaporean national believed to be the mastermind behind the scheme.

MACC chief commissioner Tan Sri Azam Baki said Malaysian police would seek cooperation from the Singaporean authorities to locate the individual.

"We will detain three more suspects who are currently at large; one of them is a Singaporean national. Our police have a cooperative relationship with the Singaporean police, so if the individual is in Singapore, we will seek their assistance.

"At this point, there is no need to involve Interpol,” he told a press conference after attending the MACC Chief Commissioner’s Cup 2024 anti-corruption debate competition at Universiti Teknologi Petronas (UTP) here today.

Earlier, seven individuals, including civil servants involved in the "flying containers” case, active at Port Klang, were detained during Ops Transit on Thursday.

All those detained are suspected of colluding with an import smuggling syndicate at Port Klang, resulting in an estimated tax loss of approximately RM3.5 billion to the country.

In an operation conducted by the MACC and the Customs Department (JKDM) on Wednesday, 19 containers containing various imported goods were successfully detained.

Upon inspection, five containers were opened, revealing various taxable items, including light-emitting diode (LED) lights, solar lights and canned processed pork.

All seven detainees were remanded for three days from Friday.

Azam revealed that the syndicate’s modus operandi included declaring the container contents as medical supplies, such as wheelchairs, while actually smuggling pork.

Azam added that the detainees also included JKDM officers.

When asked whether the fire involving 14 containers at West Port, Pulau Indah, yesterday was related to the syndicate, Azam said he had not yet received any information linking it to the ongoing investigation. — Bernama