SINGAPORE: Seven men aged between 20 and 48 were arrested on Tuesday (May 21) over an illegal transaction of marine gas oil in the waters off Benoi Basin near Jurong Island, police said.
Three of the suspects, crew members of a craft belonging to a marine service provider, are believed to have misappropriated 3 metric tonnes of marine gas oil without the company’s knowledge, preliminary investigations revealed.
AdvertisementThe oil was subsequently sold to the other four suspects, who were crew members from a foreign-registered tugboat, police said.
The suspects were arrested by police coast guard officers, in a joint operation with the Maritime and Port Authority (MPA), police said.
The tugboat was also seized for investigations, it added.
[h=3]READ: 11 suspects arrested for illegal transaction of marine gas oil
READ: 7 arrested for illegal transaction of marine gas oil[/h] AdvertisementAdvertisementThe three suspects from the marine service provider’s craft will be charged on Wednesday with criminal breach of trust as servant, which carries a maximum punishment of 15 years’ jail and a fine.
The other four suspects will face charges for dishonestly receiving stolen property. If found guilty, they could be jailed for up to five years and/or fined.
“The Police Coast Guard (PCG) and MPA take a serious view of illegal transaction of marine fuel in Singapore waters," police said.
"The PCG will continue to conduct enforcement and security checks to prevent, deter and detect such illicit activities in Singapore waters."
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