‘Flying container’: Several individuals including Singaporeans will be detained – Azam Baki

SERI ISKANDAR: The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) will arrest three more individuals suspected of being involved in the tax evasion container (“flying container”) case, including a Singaporean who is believed to be the mastermind behind the case.

MACC Chief Commissioner Tan Sri Azam Baki said the Royal Malaysian Police (PDRM) would request the cooperation of the Singapore police to track down the individual.

“We will hold three more suspects. There is a Singapore citizen; if that individual is in the country involved, we will get their (Singapore police) cooperation. So far, there is no need to involve Interpol,” he said.

He said this at a press conference after attending the 2024 MACC KP Cup Higher Education Institution Anti-Corruption Debate Competition at Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS (UTP) here today.

Azam revealed that one of the syndicate’s modus operandi was to pass off the items in the container as medical items, such as wheelchairs, but they actually contained smuggled pork.

Asked if the fire incident involving 14 containers at the West Port of Pulau Indah yesterday had anything to do with the syndicate, Azam said so far he has not received any information as to whether it is related to the investigation of the case.

Last Thursday, seven individuals, including officers of the Royal Malaysian Customs Department (JKDM), involved in the case of flying containers that were active in Port Klang, Selangor, were arrested in Op Transit.

All those arrested are suspected of conspiring with the smuggling syndicate of imported goods in Port Klang, which resulted in tax leakage estimated to be worth about RM3.5 billion to the country.

As a result of the operation carried out by MACC and JKDM last Wednesday, they have successfully detained 19 containers containing various imported goods.

From the inspections made, a total of five containers were opened and found to contain various types of taxable goods, including light-emitting diode (LED) lamps, solar lamps, and tins of processed pork.

All seven individuals were remanded for three days, from Friday until today.