PUBLISHED : 29 Jul 2024 at 11:49
Malaysian authorities have captured one man and one woman from Thailand as they were allegedly trying to smuggle cheap petrol into Thailand using vehicles registered in Malaysia.
The two suspects were inspected at a roadside checkpoint in Kota Putra in Kedah state on Saturday, the Malaysian official news agency Bernama reported on Sunday. The roadblock was set up to check vehicles heading for the crossing on the Thai-Malaysian border.
They were arrested by officials from the Domestic Trade and Cost of Living Ministry in Kedah state and later handed over to Malaysian police. Both are still under investigation by police in Malaysia, Bernama said.
The names of the two were not given and only their age was disclosed. The man is 21 years old and the woman 39, according to the ministry.
“The result of an inspection on the two Proton Wira vehicles found modified tanks containing 130 litres of fuel, suspected to be petrol, in each car,” Muhammad Nizam Jamaludin, the Kedah office director of the ministry, was quoted as saying on Sunday.
Fuel in Malaysia is cheaper than in Thailand and the price difference entices smugglers to buy at Malaysian petrol stations and drive across the border to sell it on Thai soil illegally.
The capture came despite several warnings from Malaysian authorities that they were stepping up operations to clamp down on petrol and diesel traffickers.
Kedah borders Thailand’s Songkhla province.