KUALA LUMPUR – Malaysian police will be seeking help from their counterparts in Singapore to hunt down an individual who is believed to be the mastermind behind a Port Klang smuggling syndicate.
The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) is expected to detain a Singaporean and two others over their alleged involvement in the “kontena terbang” syndicate, reported Bernama.
“We will detain three more suspects, one of whom is a Singaporean. If this person is in Singapore, we will seek the assistance of the police there. There is no need to involve Interpol yet,” he was quoted as saying after an MACC event in Seri Iskandar, Johor, today.
On Thursday, five men and two women, including civil servants, were detained during an enforcement operation. 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.
The graft busters seized 19 containers, estimated to be worth around RM10 million, including taxes, containing various imported goods.
The following day, Scoop reported that MACC had frozen nine bank accounts belonging to the company and the suspects to aid investigations. – June 9, 2024