TAWAU – A cargo boat carrying 901kg of Ibu brand cooking oil that exceeded the allowed quota of 500kg led to the seizure and arrest of two men by the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) in the waters of Tawau, yesterday.
Tawau MMEA director Shahrizan Raman said that his team was conducting a Special Op Pagar Laut and spotted a boat carrying various groceries at about 7.20pm. Since the boat was moving slowly and in a suspicious manner from Tawau to Sebatik Island, the boat was checked before the items were seized.
“An inspection of the boat that was detained at 1.4 nautical miles south of Tawau Port revealed that boat’s skipper and assistant were aged 31 and 45 respectively.
“Upon further inspection, 901kg of 1kg of cooking oil packs in 53 boxes were found hidden under the pile of grocery items, but after checking the documentation it was found that the authorisation licence to carry oil is only limited to 500kg per shipment,” he said in a statement here today.
Following that, Shahrizan said all the excess goods and the boat worth about RM50,000 were seized and the two suspects were also taken to the Tawau Maritime Zone Jetty for further investigations in accordance with the Control of Supplies Act 1961.
He added that his team was strengthening enforcement duties, especially during the current festive season and hoped the maritime community in Tawau can cooperate to report or channel any information on criminal misconduct at sea, by contacting the Tawau Maritime Zone Operations Centre at 089-752116 or MERS 999.
He also said, Tawau Maritime Zone recorded 17 arrests for various offences from last January until yesterday. – Bernama, April 16, 2023
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