Busted for RM60 a day: Part-time driver caught with 700kg of smuggled durians

 

A 22-year-old man was detained after failing to produce documents for 700kg of suspected smuggled durians found in his four-wheel-drive vehicle. – Source: GOF

RANTAU PANJANG: What was supposed to be a simple part-time job paying between RM60 and RM70 a day ended in arrest for a 22-year-old man after he was caught transporting 700kg of suspected smuggled durians here last night.

The suspect was driving a four-wheel-drive vehicle when he was detained by the General Operations Force (GOF).

GOF Southeast Brigade commander Senior Assistant Commissioner Ahmad Radzi Hussain said personnel were conducting Op Taring Wawasan Kelantan when they made the arrest.

"The GOF personnel spotted the vehicle as it passed Pengkalan Haram Abe Li Posmen at about 7.15pm.

"They stopped the vehicle and, upon inspection, discovered 700kg of durians stored on the rear passenger seats and in the cargo area.

"The suspect, a local man, failed to produce any documents to prove that the fruits had been imported legally," he said.

Radzi said initial investigations revealed that the suspect had been hired on a part-time basis to collect the durians from the riverbank before transporting them to a sales outlet in Pasir Puteh.

"He claimed several unidentified men had been waiting at the riverbank to load the fruits into the vehicle," he added.

Radzi said the suspect claimed he was paid between RM60 and RM70 a day, depending on sales, and was unaware that transporting the fruits was an offence.

He added that the four-wheel-drive vehicle, valued at RM50,000, and the 700kg of durians, worth RM3,500, had been seized.

The case has been handed over to the Kelantan Agriculture Department for further action under Section 6 of the Plant Quarantine Act 1976. - NST