10 NABBED OVER ILLEGAL BAUXITE MINING

Senior Customs officer among those held by MACC

IN a massive crackdown on illegal bauxite mining in Pahang, Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission

(MACC) officers yesterday arrested a senior Customs officer and nine Pahang Land and Mines Office employees.

The Customs officer, 56, was picked up in Kuantan at 12.15am, and was later brought before magistrate Tengku Eliana Tuan Kamaruzaman yesterday morning. Tengku Eliana issued a seven-day remand order against him.

Meanwhile, the nine employees, aged between 29 and 59, were arrested at locations around Kuantan between 3.30pm and 3.45pm.

MACC officers also raided the Pahang Land and Mines Office, Customs Department office and Kuantan Port Authority, as well as seized documents related to illegal bauxite mining.

They also seized 18 lorries believed to be illegally transporting bauxite at midnight around the Bukit Goh and Bukit Sagu areas.

Sources said MACC launched the crackdown following investigations that showed that bauxite mining was ongoing despite a moratorium imposed on such activities in Pahang.

MACC intelligence director Datuk Seri Ahmad Khusairi Yahya said the commission had been monitoring the illegal mining activities over the past few months.

“We launched the crackdown after information was collected.”

We launched the crackdown after information was collected.