KOTA BARU: A total of 17,000kg of subsidised cooking oil was seized before it could be smuggled out of Kelantan across the border.

       Two men were also arrested when enforcement officers seized the packets of cooking oil during a raid on a store in Kampung Belukar, Pasir Mas, near here, at 12.30pm on Monday, said Putrajaya Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Ministry (KPDNHEP) deputy director of enforcement (operations) Shamsul Nizam Khali.

       The raid was jointly conducted with the Pengkalan Kubor Region 3 marine police and Battalion 8 of the General Operations Force.

       The operation was conducted based on intelligence and surveillance carried out by the ministry’s intelligence section in Putrajaya on a cooking oil wholesaler in Melaka, he said in a statement.

       Shamsul Nizam said the modus operandi of the syndicate was to obtain the supply of subsidised cooking oil from companies in Melaka and the Klang Valley by using licences belonging to other firms.“Based on the documents found, the cooking oil was meant for a wholesaler in Melaka,” he said.

       Two men, the lorry driver and his attendant, were also arrested.

       Further investigations will be carried out to identify the owner of the premises and the chief suspect in the case, Shamsul Nizam added. — Bernama