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PUTRAJAYA: Syndicates are stealing millions of ringgit worth of merchandise from freight terminals in local airports and ports.
Some goods were stolen from the terminals, others via highway robberies and hijackings.
In the latest reported case, Perak police are investigating the disappearance on Feb 11 of 700,000 condoms worth RM4.5mil while being transported to Japan.
Last year, almost RM70mil worth of goods were reported stolen to the independent US-based watchdog Transported Assets Protection Association (Tapa).
Robberies and hijackings accounted for RM64mil of the reported losses, and RM4.3mil stolen from the terminals.
About RM80,000 worth of merchandise were also reported stolen from various storage facilities, and RM1.2mil via fraud and theft of vehicles loaded with goods.
The bulk of the merchandise involved were computer processing units (CPU), memory chips and other internal CPU components, valued at RM45.4mil.
This was followed by cash or gold bullion (RM8.3mil), metals (RM4.2mil), hard disk drives and storage disks (nearly RM4mil), and mobile phones and smartphones (RM3.1mil).
The rest were high tech equipment, tobacco products, portable computers, commodities, and food and beverage products.
TAPA reported that the modus operandi included criminals posing as policemen and internal theft committed in cahoots with syndicates.
Security and logistics standards consultant Capt Rajkumar said many migrant workers who earned low wages were believed to be cooperating with the syndicates.
"The syndicates would get close to the port workers with promises of large payments for information on the targeted goods. "All the workers have to do is send the syndicates an SMS about the truck or container registration number. The syndicates will track the vehicle," he said in an interview.
Incident Information Service head for TAPA Asia Tony Lugg advised companies to screen their new workers carefully.
"Yes, there is a cost to screening but if that cost can prevent thefts, it would be worth it," he said.
Malaysia recorded the second highest number of reported incidents in the Asia-Pacific region, behind Hong Kong (RM92.7mil) and more than Australia (RM14.5mil) in reported thefts.
Lugg cautioned that incidents of cargo thefts in Malaysia had an "enormous impact" for the country's prospects as a preferred merchandise hub, especially with the impending Asean Free Trade Agreement (AFTA).
He said most of the goods were lost through the use of violence and threats.
There are over 1,000 TAPA members (individuals and companies) in Asia, most of them multinational companies, manufacturers and logistic service providers such as Nike, DHL, Fedex, Intel, Gillette and tobacco companies with large investments in Malaysia.
Lugg warned that unless the major Malaysian ports – West Port, North Port, Tanjung Pelepas, Johor Port, Tanjung Langsat, Bintulu Port, Port Klang and Penang Port – get linked and share information via information technology networks, the situation would get worse.
Capt Rajkumar said security at major entryways for merchandise needed vast improvement. "If a truck and driver are blacklisted at one port, that person could drive the same truck to another port without any problems." "Companies only care about the truck leaving the port and getting to its destination,'' said Lugg, adding that what happened in between was usually not known
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