ALOR STAR: The Malaysian Border Control Agency (Aksem) in Kedah arrested two men last night and seized 100kg of cockle spats worth RM50,000 which they believed were to be smuggled into Thailand.
Its deputy chief of Intelligence and Operations, Insp Anandha Krishnan, said they seized the young cockles from a Proton Perdana car with two men aged 30 and 35, at Km46.8 on the North-South Expressway, at Changlun town near Kubang Pasu, at 10.10pm. The vehicle was heading towards Thailand.
“We checked the car with its suspicious-looking occupants and found several white sacks with the young cockles believed to have been brought from Perak. The young cockles are priced at RM500 per kg and, if the demand is high, the price can be two or three times more. The season for the cockles is between January and March, so we will increase our monitoring in these three months,” he told a press conference here today.
Anandha said the investigation also found that the suspects received RM300 as wages, and they had to transport the young cockles by 2am or 3am to prevent them from being exposed to heat which could kill them.
“They start moving and when the border gates open. They will then enter the neighbouring country. We find that they are using smaller cars instead of bigger ones such as the Naza to avoid detection by the enforcement authorities,“ he said.
He said the total value of the seizure, including the car, was RM70,000. — Bernama
