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LANGKAWI: Police Inspector General Abdul Hamid Bador says that the police will assist the Ministry of National Commerce and Consumer Affairs with the investigations of the meat import cartel case.
He said Bukit Aman had also opened several investigative documents on the subject following reports submitted by various individuals and non-governmental organizations (NGOs).
“This issue is related to trade, so the most relevant (authority) to investigate it is the Ministry of National Commerce and Consumption, but in the meantime, the Police will investigate complaints that allege that there are cartels that commit irregularities with respect to meat imported. .
“If such activities are shown to exist and cause public concern, we will enforce the law,” he said at a press conference after the Khazanah Integrated Operations Meeting here today.
However, he said police have made no arrests so far in connection with the case.
The issue of imported meat with questionable halal status recently heated up after the media managed to unravel the case, sparking public outrage.
At today’s meeting, which was chaired by the Customs Department (Customs), Hamid said that among the issues raised was the action against employers who had kongsi houses on the edge of the forest, allowing their foreign workers to engage in activities of wildlife capture.
“Some foreign workers take the opportunity to trap animals in the forest near the kongsi house, but we will crack down on the employer because they are responsible for ensuring that workers do not commit such crimes,” he said.
Meanwhile, the director general of the Department of Wildlife and National Parks (Perhilitan), Abdul Kadir Abu Hashim, said that by 2021, the implementation activities of the integrated operations of Khazanah will be concentrated in the hunting areas in the forest reserves, including Titiwangsa Range National Park, which has been identified as a protected area and natural habitat for the Malayan tiger.
He said there were hunters who set traps for wild boar, for example, but also affected other protected wild animals.
“So we want to focus on destroying the traps, especially the wire traps, located mainly at the edges of the forest, especially those near the Kongsi houses,” he said.
The Director General of Customs, Abdul Latif Abdul Kadir, was also present at the press conference.
