KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 27 — The police are investigating the possibility that 47 illegally operating electronic and electrical waste (e-waste) factories raided in operations nationwide recently are linked to each other.
Bukit Aman Internal Security and Public Order Department director Datuk Seri Azmi Abu Kassim said the investigation is now focusing on the companies that operate the factories.
“So far, we have not been able to conclude if these factories are operating as a syndicate but further investigation is ongoing,” he said when contacted today.
Azmi added that most of the factories raided received supplies of e-waste smuggled in via sea, and one of the factories raided in Sarawak obtained electronic waste from a local supplier who collected electronic waste from the public.
He stressed that collaboration between various enforcement agencies is vital to combat these illegal factories and that the police and the Department of Environment (DOE) are ready to cooperate with other agencies.
In Op Hazard, which was carried out nationwide on February 15, the DOE inspected 47 factories and found 30 operating illegally: seven were selling second-hand goods, six were licensed under the DOE, three were licensed under the local authorities, and one illegal warehouse.
— Bernama
