MACC deputy chief commissioner (operations) Ahmad Khusairi Yahaya said the figure reflected the true scale of e-waste smuggling, which was increasingly worrying and required tougher enforcement, reported Bernama.

He said the companies involved were believed to be foreign-owned and were importing electronic waste, plastic and paper for recycling purposes.

He said MACC did not rule out the possibility that certain authorities tasked with preventing the entry of such waste were protecting these companies.

“If not combated comprehensively, it has the potential to cause serious pollution in the country,” he said in a statement.

“Valuable components such as copper, alloys and gold were extracted, while the remaining waste was disposed of by burning, burying or direct dumping, polluting air and water resources,” he said.

He said a taskforce comprising members from 12 agencies such as MACC, the Malaysian Border Control and Protection Agency, police, environment department, customs department and investment, trade and industry ministry had been formed to assess the existing laws and improve anti-smuggling operations at all entry points into the country.

Last week, MACC chief commissioner Azam Baki proposed a six-month moratorium on the import of plastic waste and e-waste to assess their actual impact on the country.

Azam said a moratorium would allow the economic, environmental and enforcement impacts of plastic waste and e-waste imports to be studied in detail, and that there was no need for large-scale imports of such materials.