Kedah: The Kedah branch of the Ministry of Domestic Trade and Cost of Living (KPDN) is now expanding its focus on monitoring diesel smuggling and diversion, not only in border areas but also in the southern parts of the state. Its chief enforcement officer, Zalina Aziz, said that the trend of diesel smuggling in Kedah is currently showing a change as the activity is no longer concentrated at border routes such as Bukit Kayu Hitam and Kota Putra in Padang Terap, but is instead starting to shift to the southern areas of the state.
According to BERNAMA News Agency, serious attention is also being given to the southern areas, particularly in Sungai Petani and Kulim, which have been identified as increasingly exposed to subsidised fuel diversion activities. Zalina Aziz noted the syndicate's modus operandi now involves the misuse of diesel subsidy fleet cards in industrial areas, especially in Sungai Petani and Kulim.
"Previously in border areas, most cases involved modified vehicles such as pickups, cargo lorries, and bonded lorries with additional fiber tanks or special tanks before diesel was transferred into Intermediate Bulk Container (IBC) tanks. Now, the trend is shifting to industrial areas where certain parties are believed to be buying subsidised diesel using fleet cards before collecting and reselling it to industries," she told Bernama recently.
Zalina said her side believes that syndicates are taking advantage of the Diesel Subsidy Control Scheme (SKDS) 2.0 provided to the transportation and industrial sectors. She explained that diesel purchased at subsidised prices using fleet cards would be collected bit by bit from several petrol stations before being transferred to another tank for resale.
"We believe there are vehicles filling up on diesel at several different petrol stations using the same registration number to maximise the daily quota before the fuel is transferred and sold to others," she also said. She added that the Kedah KPDN will continue to enhance enforcement and monitoring operations continuously to curb any activities of misappropriation and smuggling of subsidised diesel throughout the state.