23-04-2025
Exotic food smuggling attempt foiled in Kudat
Hasbullah (right) and an officer inspecting the seized exotic food in Kudat.
KUDAT (April 23): The Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) thwarted an attempt to smuggle exotic food worth RM100,000 in Kudat waters early Wednesday.
MMEA Kudat director Maritime Commander Hasbullah Omar said the Malaysian Maritime Intelligence Unit detected suspicious activity in the Malawali Strait around 2am and dispatched a patrol vessel to investigate.
Authorities later found an abandoned boat 1.8 nautical miles northwest of Tanjung Layang-layang, Pitas.
'No one was on board, so our personnel conducted an inspection and discovered 20 polystyrene boxes of frozen clams (500kg), eight sacks of dried clams (200kg), and five boxes of frozen pangolins (100kg),' said Hasbullah in a statement.
He added that the exotic goods were likely destined for neighboring countries with high demand for illegal wildlife products.
The boat and its cargo were seized and brought to the Kudat Marina Jetty for further investigation.
The case is being probed under the Wildlife Conservation Enactment 1997 and the Fisheries Act 1985 for smuggling endangered species and possessing marine products without a valid permit.
MMEA urges the public to report maritime crimes via 088-611858 (Kudat Operations Centre) or the 24-hour emergency line 999.
