JOHOR BAHRU, Sept 3 — Five Indonesian store workers were each sentenced to 15 months’ jail by the Sessions Court here today for illegally possessing 13,745.8 kilogrammes of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) without a licence.
Judge Thalha Bachok @ Embok Mok handed down the sentence after the accused — Muhammad Ali, 32; Marhaban, 31; Adnan, 28; Nasrullah, 34; and Zulfan Fauzi, 31 — pleaded guilty to amended charges.
According to the charge sheet, the men were found with the LPG, classified as controlled goods, under circumstances giving rise to suspicion of manufacturing it without a licence.
They committed the offence at Jalan Sungai Tiram, Ulu Tiram at 7.05pm on July 28.
The case was prosecuted under Section 21 of the Control of Supplies Act 1961, read together with Section 34 of the Penal Code, which carries a maximum fine of RM1 million, three years’ jail or both.
The men, who were unrepresented, requested a lighter sentence on the grounds that they had only come to Malaysia to work and had family dependents.
However, Domestic Trade and Cost of Living Ministry (KPDN) prosecuting officer S Loganathan urged the court to impose a deterrent sentence in the interest of public safety.
The judge ordered the jail term to run from the date of arrest on July 28 and allowed the prosecution’s application for the proceeds of sale and seized goods to be forfeited to the government.
Case facts stated that following Op Gasak, Op Tiris and Op Gempur carried out by Putrajaya KPDN on July 28, enforcement officers raided a premises after surveillance and caught the men transferring LPG before arresting them.
The five initially pleaded guilty on August 1 to the original charge of possessing 9,565.8 kilogrammes of LPG without a licence.
On July 29, Johor KPDN director Lilis Saslinda Pornomo said the suspects had been detained on suspicion of carrying out LPG decanting activities.
