Bukit Aman internal security and public order department director Kamarudin Din said the unit arrested 10 people in raids in six states and made seizures worth nearly RM5.5 million, Bernama reported.

Four men were arrested in connection with the seizure of 98,400 litres of subsidised diesel in the first raid in Puchong, Selangor, on May 14.

“An oil tanker, a trailer lorry, two containers and two intermediate bulk containers, with an estimated value of RM1.03 million, were also seized,” he said in a statement today.

In the second raid in Besut, Terengganu, on May 15, the unit arrested a man and seized 44 ball pythons, 11 boas, a mangrove snake and a Burmese python, all worth RM155,504.

On the same day in Sibu, Sarawak, the unit, in collaboration with other agencies, arrested a man and seized 649,750kg of imported rice worth RM2.12 million.

In a separate raid, they also seized 5,831 boxes of illegally imported frozen chicken worth RM1.88 million, and imposed fines of RM25,000.

In the fifth raid in Gombak, Kuala Lumpur, on May 16, they arrested a man and a woman and seized a greater green leafbird, a black-crested bulbul, a yellow-whiskered bulbul, a hanging parrot, a white-breasted waterhen and a common iora bird, with an estimated value of RM10,250.

In the sixth raid in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, the unit seized 52,944kg of subsidised coarse sugar valued at RM256,626.

Kamarudin said 78 raids were conducted nationwide from Jan 1 to May 19, resulting in the arrest of 172 people and seizure of goods totalling RM194.67 million, to combat wildlife smuggling and prevent leakage of controlled items.