MELAKA: Five parking touts believed to be active in collecting parking charges without a licence at public parking lots under the Melaka Historic City Council (MBMB) were arrested in a special operation in Kampung Hulu here last night.
MBMB mayor Datuk Shadan Othman said all of those arrested - three men and two women - aged 44 to 47, were arrested in an operation which started at 9pm yesterday.
He said preliminary investigations found that the group of parking touts had started actively collecting car parking fees at prices ranging from RM5 to RM10 per car in the MBMB public parking area near the Masjid Kampung Hulu since last month.
"In the operation carried out, the enforcement team consisting of personnel from the MBMB, the police and the National Anti-Drug Agency (AADK) went undercover and all the individuals involved are believed to be guarding the parking area and collecting parking fees from members of the public for using the spaces provided.
"The parking area is under MBMB's purview. It is a public parking lot that only charges parking fees until 6 pm, but the group of parking touts took the opportunity to collect parking charges illegally," he told reporters after the operation last night.
He said during the operation, these touts who were locals, had just started their illegal activities and as much as RM75 was seized believed to be the result of unlicensed parking collection and they were believed to be able to collect up to RM300 per night.
He said all five were taken to the Magistrate's Court for urine screening and two men and one woman were handed over to the police after they tested positive for drugs while the other two would be handed over to the Social Welfare Department (JKM) if they were found to be homeless.
In the meantime, Shadan said several MBMB public parking areas around Kota Laksamana and Jonker Walk were also found to be the focus of touts to carry out illegal activities to make a profit.
He said, therefore, more regular monitoring and operations will be carried out to stop such activities.