By Dorcas Ting
SIMANGGANG, March 12: The Sessions Court here today fined an Indonesian national RM10,000 for illegally transporting nine units of subsidised liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) cylinders out of Sarawak.
Sessions Court Judge Intan Nurul Fareena imposed a fine of RM10,000 on Juli Toni, 43, from Putussibau, West Kalimantan, after he pleaded guilty to an offence under Section 20(8) of the Distribution of Gas Ordinance 2016.
The offence carries a penalty of a fine between RM10,000 and RM100,000, imprisonment of up to two years, or both.
According to prosecuting officers Inspector Johny Ikau and Inspector Paddril Peter from the State Security and Enforcement Unit (UKPS), representing the Ministry of Utility and Telecommunication Sarawak (MUT), Juli was arrested on March 4 at around 9am by a team of General Operations Force (GOF) officers near the international border in Lubok Antu.
He was detained along an unauthorised access road, locally known as Jalan John, while attempting to transport the subsidised LPG cylinders out of Sarawak. His accomplice, identified only as ‘Farhan’ or ‘Bujang’, managed to evade capture and escaped back to Indonesia.
Investigations revealed that Juli was using two motorcycles, a Honda Vario and a Honda Beat, both of which were foreign-registered and modified to carry LPG cylinders. Along with the motorcycles, police also seized cash amounting to RM4,406 and 387,000 Indonesian rupiah, an Oppo A38 mobile phone, and nine LPG cylinders consisting of seven red 14kg Petros cylinders and two green 14kg Petronas cylinders.
During mitigation, Juli expressed remorse and pleaded for a lighter sentence, citing his responsibility to support his family in Indonesia.
Judge Intan took into account various factors before imposing a fine of RM10,000, with a default sentence of ten months’ imprisonment if unpaid. The court also ordered the seized LPG cylinders to be forfeited to MUT for disposal. – DayakDaily
