TAWAU, June 4 — The Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) intercepted a cargo boat carrying rice, sugar packets and petrol without a permit at 0.6 nautical miles south of Tawau Port and arrested a man believed to be smuggling the controlled items to a neighbouring country yesterday.
Tawau maritime zone director, Capt (Maritime) Shahrizan Raman said that the boat, driven by the local man, 32, was intercepted by a maritime patrol boat while moving from Tawau Port to Pulau Sebatik at 3.40pm.
“The boat was detained based on intelligence gathering, and inspections of the boat found 500 kilogrammes (kg) of local rice, 500kg of Thai rice, 48kg of sugar packets and four gallons (120 litres) of petrol,” he said in a statement here today, adding that investigations revealed that it was an attempt to smuggle controlled items out of the country as there was no permit and the large quantity of items.
“Seizures including the cargo and boat is estimated to be around RM55,000 and the case is being investigated under the Customs Act 1967, the Control of Supplies Act 1961 and the Control of Padi and Rice Act 1994,” he added. — Bernama
