Singapore vessel’s bid to smuggle out Johor river sand foiled

The Star 1 Jan 10;

JOHOR BARU: The Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency has foiled an attempt by a Singapore-registered vessel to smuggle out RM100,000 worth of river sand at Tanjung Piai here.

The agency’s southern enforcement director, Abdul Razak Johan, said they received information regarding the vessel through their operations centre and managed to detain the boat on Wednesday.

“Four of our officials spotted the vessel, Cathay 15 which was hauling a pontoon filled with sand.

“We found that they did not possess the proper permit for exporting sand,” he said.

Investigations revealed that the vessel and the pontoon had left Pulau Carey on Saturday and was scheduled to arrive in Tuas, yesterday.

“We also found that the permit held by the vessel was for exporting cement and not sand. We have detained all eight Indonesian crew aboard the vessel,” he said.

The offence has been classified under Section 426 and 426(1)(a) of the National Land Code for ferrying sand without permit which carries a jail term of not more than five years and a fine of not more than RM50,000 or both.

Boat Held For Attempting To Smuggle Sand Out of Johor
Bernama 31 Dec 09;

JOHOR BAHARU, Dec 31 (Bernama) -- The Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) southern region has detained in Tanjung Piai waters a tugboat attempting to smuggle out 3,800 tonnes of river sand estimated at RM100,000.

Johor Baharu maritime district operations director Commander Abdul Razak Johan said the Maritime Operations Centre received information on the presence of the boat, Cathay 15, in Kukup waters.

"At 3.40pm yesterday, the boat and its pontoon laden with the sand were detained by the MMEA with the cooperation of the Pontian District Land Office. It was found that the boat did not have any permit to transport and export rock materials," he said in a statement here on Thursday.

He said investigation showed that Cathay 15, which had a permit to export cement, had departed Carey Island on Dec 26 and was expected to arrive in Tuas, Singapore, today.

Abdul Razak said the boat's eight Indonesian crew, aged between 23 and 40, had been remanded at Pontian police station for further investigation.

-- BERNAMA