KUCHING: Marine police on Saturday seized stopped a tanker in the Sarawak River and seized 430,000l of diesel.
Marine police Region 5 commander Assistant Commissioner Ab Rahman Mat Hassan said the diesel was seized during "Op Taring Gelora Khas" when a patrol boat inspected the vessel at 3.45pm.
Upon inspection, the captain of the tanker failed to produce valid authorisation documents for transporting the diesel.
"Three out of the four crew members, who are foreign nationals, did not possess valid passports and abused social visit passes to work on the tanker," he said in a statement.
Rahman said the captain, along with the crew members aged between 19 and 47, were detained, and the tanker and diesel were handed over to the Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Ministry for further investigation.
Meanwhile, Sarawak ministry director Matthew Dominic Barin, in a statement, said the diesel which was seized was valued at RM924,500.
He said the total value of the seizure, including the tanker, was estimated at RM5 million.
"The case is being investigated under Section 21 of the Control of Supplies Act 1961 to identify the individuals or companies involved in the activities or distribution chain of diesel oil, including the source of the diesel," he said.
He said a total of 121 cases were recorded in Op Tiris in Sarawak from March 1 to Dec 31, last year.
"It involved a quantity of 6,554,327l of diesel oil with an estimated total seizure value of RM6.9 million," he said.