KOTA BHARU, Sept 17 (Bernama) -- Police detained a man and seized 1,000 plant saplings of various species believed smuggled from Thailand during a raid in Kampung Gual Tok Deh, Rantau Panjang in Pasir Mas, yesterday.
During the 5.45 pm raid, an intelligence team from the General Operations Force (GOF) Battalion 8 in Pengkalan Chepa impounded a Hino lorry valued at about RM100,000.
GOF Southeast Brigade commander SAC Ahmad Radzi Hussain said the 32-year-old man was arrested after he was seen driving the lorry suspiciously. An inspection found the saplings in the rear cargo compartment.
He said a search of the suspect found no illegal items. The man, however, failed to provide documents for the source and acquisition of the plant saplings.
“Further checks revealed 400 bamboo plants, 200 longan trees, 200 casuarina trees, and 200 frangipani plants. The suspect and seized items were brought to the GOF Tactical Headquarters (Komtak) in Taman Bakti, Rantau Panjang, for further action,” he said in a statement today.
Ahmad Radzi said the seized saplings were estimated to be worth RM34,000. With the lorry, the total value of the seizure was RM134,000.
He added that the suspect and the seized items were handed over to the Kota Bharu Department of Agriculture for further action under Section 5 of the Plant Quarantine Act 1976 (Act 167).
“Preliminary investigations revealed that the suspect, a lorry driver for a transport company in Gunung, Bachok, received RM300 for each delivery of saplings to a nursery in Kuala Lumpur.
“The seizure was made after the suspect failed to provide reasonable proof regarding the origin and acquisition of the plants, which are believed to have been brought in from Thailand without going through inspection and clearance by the relevant authorities,” he said.
According to the statement, bringing in plants without proper inspection and controls risks introducing soil, pests, or foreign organisms that could threaten the country’s biosecurity and crop safety.
He said that continuous intelligence gathering and surveillance would be carried out to identify the syndicates and methods involved in these activities and to curb illegal cross-border smuggling.
-- BERNAMA