KUALA LUMPUR: Eleven policemen from Kedah and Perak have been picked up by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) for corruption.
Earlier, the graft busters nabbed 13 enforcement officers for being involved in the smuggling of petrol and diesel through the Thai border.
The 11 policemen from Kedah and Perak were picked up here the other day by the MACC in what the agency said was the largest arrest of government officials for corruption in recent years.
An MACC statement said the crackdown – code named Ops Licin 2 – saw nine policemen being hauled in from the Kota Putra police station and the Padang Terap district headquarters in Kedah between 11.30am and 2pm here the other day.
MACC also arrested two General Operations Force (GOF) officers at the elite force’s camp in Ulu Kinta, Perak, yesterday.
“They were arrested for allegedly being involved in the solicitation and receiving of bribes to cover up the smuggling and sale of petrol and diesel at the Malaysia-Thai border,” it said.
The suspects were said to have demanded bribes on a monthly basis from the operators in exchange for protection.
They were also believed to have allowed foreigners to enter and leave Malaysia without undergoing checks.
The arrest of the 11 officers comes after 13 others from the Anti-Smuggling Unit and GOF were arrested in the two states on Monday.
MACC also arrested a former UPP personnel and a civilian in the dragnet.
The officers are believed to have accepted between RM400 and RM4,000 in bribes from unlicensed fuel operators in Durian Burung, Kedah, while attached to the Immigration, Customs, Quarantine and Security (ICQS) inspection centres there.
Those arrested here the other day had since been released on bail, said MACC.
The civilian is being investigated under Section 16(a)(B) of the MACC Act 2009 while the enforcement officers are being probed under Section 17(a) of the same Act.
