The department’s enforcement director Valluvan Velloo told The Star this was reflected in the monthly average of about 8,000 summonses issued against lorry operators for overloading, compared with the 1,455 summonses a month issued when tontos ruled the roost.
The success is attributed to the department’s “dramatic” joint operation with the police, along the Kesas Highway in April, where 15 tonto “masterminds” were arrested and subsequently charged under the Prevention of Crime Act (Poca).
The swoop, called “Ops Cantas Khas Tonto”, saw the enforcers luring the unsuspecting tontos, who were tailing enforcers’ vehicles, into an area where the arresting team was lying in wait. Helicopters were used in the operation.
According to Valluvan, 7,573 summonses were issued against lorry drivers for overloading between May and September.
He said lorries with no licences and road tax, previously protected by tonto syndicates, used to cost the Government about RM12 million a year.
Valluvan lauded the police force for willing to work with RTD to stem the tonto menace, and allowing the culprits to be detained under Poca.
“Once the tontos were nabbed, the structure of the tonto syndicate was gone,” he was quoted as saying.
He said his enforcement officers had previously been intimidated with physical harm by tontos, but his officers were unable to arrest the culprits as they only had the power to do so when a person did not cooperate with the department.
“In the case of tontos, they will cooperate but will not allow us to do our work,” he said, adding that this was where police presence helped.
Valluvan pledged that the RTD would continue working with the police to eradicate the tonto menace.
Tontos had in the past, apart from tailing enforcement vehicles, also acted violently against enforcers.
Senior Customs officer Anisah Ali was killed in Kota Bharu, Kelantan, after the vehicle she was travelling in while pursuing a van carrying smuggled items, was rammed from the rear by a four-wheel drive vehicle driven by a tonto. This caused the enforcers’ vehicle to crash into a tree.