KUCHING: An attempt by a local man to bribe a General Operations Force (GOF) officer with RM1,850 to avoid arrest and seizure of smuggled controlled goods worth RM1.034 million at Kampung Raso on Tuesday (Dec 22) was foiled.
Sarawak General Operations Force commander, SAC Mancha Ata, said a patrol team saw three suspicious vehicles heading to the border around 7pm.
“Despite a stern warning, the suspect refused to cooperate, so he was arrested and handed over to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC),” he said in a statement.
Further inspection found that three lorries — three local men and two Indonesian men — tried to smuggle out 10 boxes of chicken tails, 1,240 boxes of sausages, 10 boxes of chicken wings and 11 boxes of swiftlet nests.
Additional investigation also found that all items were suspected to have not been taxed and was in the process of being smuggled to Indonesia.
“All the suspects were detained and handed over to the Lundu district police headquarters (IPD),” he said.
The case is being investigated under Section 135 (1) (d) of the Customs Act 1967, Section 17 (b) of the MACC Act 2009, and Section 6 (1) (c) of the Immigration Act 1959/63 (Act 155).
In a separate case, a team from the 11th Battalion of GOF along with Sarawak Forestry Corporation (SFC) officers raided a house in Kuching on suspicion of keeping protected animals without permit.
The raid carried out around 12.30pm on Tuesday (Dec 22) netter eight parrots, four whistling ducks, and four ring necked pheasants.
The animals are protected species and believed to be imported from abroad. They were estimated to be worth RM303,000.
A local man was also detained for further investigation under Section 29 (1) of the Sarawak Wildlife Protection Ordinance 1998.
