Kelantan GOF suspects store owners using fake stamps to distribute smuggled rice

 

-NSTP/courtesy of GOF

KOTA BARU: The General Operations Force (GOF) believed several major rice store owners operating along the Kelantan/Thai border were using fake stamps to distribute smuggled rice in the state.

GOF Ninth Battalion commanding officer Superintendent Nor Azizan Yusof said checks showed these store owners were using the fake stamps which were copied from a government agency.

"We suspect they have been doing this for some time. They managed to cheat the enforcement agencies as many were unaware that the stamps were forged," he said.

Nor Azizan said the battalion discovered this tactic in a recent seizure at a rice storage in Tanah Merah where they also seized several fake stamps.

"This was the first case detected by the GOF Ninth Battalion since we took over checks of the Kelantan/Thai border under 'Ops Wawasan' in 2019.

"Maybe this has been going on for many years but at the time, we could not detect them as the culprits managed to evade the authorities," said Nor Azizan.

On Jan 29, two men – a store owner and keeper, were detained for possessing 45 tonnes of rice including glutinous rice worth nearly RM250,000 in an operation in Tanah Merah.

Several fake stamps belonging to a government agency, were also discovered in the operation at Kampung Bendang Buyong.

A lorry, worth about RM50,000, believed to have been used to transport the smuggled rice, was also seized.

The store was used to keep smuggled rice since last year and were meant to be distributed in Kelantan and nearby states. - NST