GOF seizes RM111mil worth of e-waste, arrests five undocumented foreigners in Perak factory raid

IPOH: About RM111mil worth of e-waste has been seized and five foreign workers arrested during an Ops Hazard 2.0 operation at the Pengkalan industrial area here.

General Operations Force (GOF) Northern Brigade commander Senior Asst Comm Shahrum Hashim said the e-waste, which included metal and plastics, were found in about 1,500 bags that were kept at a factory on Monday (June 16) at about 7pm.

“The bags each weigh between 850kg and 1,000kg.

“We also found equipment and machines used to process the e-waste,” he said at a press conference on Tuesday (June 17).

“We believe the factory has been illegally running the e-waste processing operation for about a year,” he said, adding that the case is being investigated under Section 34A and 34B of the Environmental Quality Act.

“We are working with the state Environment Department to determine how much e-waste has been processed,” he added.

SAC Shahrum said a licence is required to process e-waste, which is stated uder the Environment Quality Act.

“The operator also needs a permit to use land or buildings to store e-waste and we did not find any of these permits and licences,” he added.

On the foreign workers that were arrested, SAC Shahrum said none had proper documentation.

He said the workers, from Myanmar, are believed to have been hired illegally.

“Employing foreigners without proper documents is an offence.

“This is being investigated under Section 6(1)(c) of the Immigration Act,” he said, adding that the workers, who included a woman, also stayed at the factory.

“We are trying to identify the owner of the premises,” he said.