TUMPAT:The Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Ministry (KPDNHEP) has uncovered a new tactic of smuggling cooking oil into Thailand by using sand lorries through an illegal base near the Malaysia-Thailand border.

Kelantan KPDNHEP chief enforcement officer Azanizam Affendi Juri said the new tactic was uncovered following the seizure of an Isuzu lorry laden with 1,360 kg of cooking oil worth RM3,400 in a raid at a house in Pengkalan Kubor at 3 pm yesterday.

“During the raid which was conducted during an integrated operation with the 8th battalion of the General Operations Force (GOF), a man believed to be the lorry driver was also arrested.

“Preliminary investigations found that the lorry driver was paid RM100 to bring the cooking oil to a location given by the smugglers who would contact him via phone calls,” he said in a statement today adding that the cooking oil supply was obtain from a wholesaler in Pasir Mas.

Azanizam Affendi said the lorry driver was nabbed after he was suspected of committing an offence under the Control of Supplies Act 1961.

-- BERNAMA