PUTRAJAYA - An investigative report by the New Straits Times this week said that corrupt officials on the Thai border are making up to RM5,000 (S$2,045) a day from bribes.
NST reporters recently joined several surveillance operations by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) at border checkpoints in Kedah and Kelantan on the Thai border, and in Sabah and Sarawak in east Malaysia.
They found cars, vans and lorries ferrying goods such as cooking oil, RON 95 petrol and liquefied petroleum gas out of the country without any interference from four levels of security checks.
At the Rantau Panjang checkpoint in Kelantan, reporters on MACC surveillance discovered that "rates" start at RM10 for the first line of security manned by General Operations Force (GOF) officers.
As the van stopped at the first checkpoint, a GOF officer walked up to the window and whispered "sepuluh ringgit, cepat cepat" ("RM10, hurry, hurry"). The undercover MACC officer paid the bribe and the van was waved through.
At the Customs checkpoint, the undercover officer placed a RM50 note on the pillowcase stuffed with rice in the back of the van. The Customs official pretended to inspect the illicit cargo but pocketed the money with a bit of sleight-of-hand, according to the NST report.
Next were the "bosses" of the Road Transport Department who charge between RM100 and RM250 for a green sticker to indicate clearance and to indicate "to his men on the ground that we were one of the 'untouchables'," the report said.
The fourth hurdle was the Anti-Smuggling Unit checkpoint, where officers took RM50 but have been said to accept as little as RM10.
Depending on the traffic flow, NST estimated that these officers would collectively make between RM3,000 to RM5,000 a day from bribes.
Surveillance at the Rantau Panjang border showed between 50 and 100 vehicles freely moving goods in and out of the country between 6am and 10pm daily.
Via: http://www.todayonline.com/World/EDC120104-0000050/Msian-officers-can-collect-RM5,000-in-bribes-daily
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