Roslan (second left) presents a souvenir to Third Brigade Commander Brigadier General Mohd Bustaman Mat Zin after the opening of the event.

KUCHING: The Ministry of Domestic Trade, Cooperative and Consumerism (KPDNKK) is working with the armed forces to curb smuggling activities along the border with Indonesia.

According to the ministry’s Enforcement director Datuk Mohd Roslan Mahayudin, the collaboration will enable the army to monitor and arrest those who smuggle subsidised items like gas cylinders, sugar and cooking oils, among others, from the state across the border to Indonesia.

“The working relationship will also assist the ministry to monitor the prices of goods, especially controlled items,” he said.

Yesterday, the ministry held a talk on KPDNKK Acts and Legislation, which was attended by armed forces personnel at Penrissen Camp here, the third in a series after Kelantan and Kedah.

Roslan told a press conference that the ties with the armed forces was made following a meeting in May this year, discussing the cooperation between the two agencies via the National Blue Ocean Strategy (NBOS).

“Under the working relationship (with the armed forces), there will be a sharing of intelligence information on smuggling activities across the border, where the ministry (KPDNKK) will also provide training the legislation and various Acts under KPDNKK,” he said.

For a start, the collaboration is confined to Serikin and will be extended to other border posts with Indonesia in the future.

Roslan said that ties with the armed forces was necessary because the ministry with only 2,600 enforcement staff could not afford to deploy enforcement personnel to all the border posts with Indonesia.

He pointed out that the relationship would enable the armed forces to make citizen’s arrest and hand over the case to KPDNKK for further action, adding that 10 cases have been handed to the ministry this year, involving seized goods worth over RM39,000.

Roslan (seventh left) with Bustaman (on his right) and other senior army and KPDNKK officers in a photocall.

He acknowledged that there were cases of foreigners buying subsidised items from the country in large quantities and noted that the working relationship with the armed forces would help curb such activity.

According to him, the ministry was also working with the General Operation Force (GOF) and Marine police to curb smuggling activities.

Meanwhile, Sarawak recorded a drop in cases involving smuggled items at the border this year compared to last year.

According to Roslan, only five cases were recorded this year, involving total seized items worth RM810,000 compared to 15 cases last year worth more than  RM8.59 million.

He pointed out that the working relationship with other agencies through NBOS has resulted in the drop of cases involving smuggled items along the border.

Present was Third Brigade commander Brigadier-General Mohd Bustaman Mat Zin.