Eight tyre makers join MACC in Shah Alam raids to identify smuggled stock. Ops Grip expands to retail amid growing safety and corruption concerns.
Assets Worth RM12.5 million Seized During the Second Ops Grip Raid
The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission‘s (MACC) probe into illegal tyre trade has started to target retailers and involved local and global industry players. Raids conducted in Shah Alam on October 2 revealed how smuggled tyres have reached the consumer market through seemingly legitimate channels.
Enforcement officers from the MACC, the Standards and Industrial Research Institute of Malaysia (SIRIM), and the Domestic Trade and Cost of Living Ministry (KPDN), accompanied by representatives from eight major tyre manufacturers (Toyo Tires, Yokohama, Bridgestone, Michelin, Pirelli, Continental, Dunlop, and Maxxis), raided three retail outlets in Shah Alam as part of continuing enforcement operations.
At those outlets, investigators found European-market tyres that had been somehow diverted to Malaysia, stock brought in through unauthorised distributors, labels tampered with to conceal the true countries of origin, and falsified manufacturing dates used to pass off old stock as new.
Florentin Odenwald, the Managing Director of Michelin Malaysia, Brunei, and Singapore, said the tampered labels are meant to prevent consumers from recognising the tyres’ true origin. “For the Malaysian market, we only import tyres manufactured in Thailand as they are specially formulated for local road and climate conditions,” he said, as quoted by Bernama.
Meanwhile, Kit Loong Tayaria general manager Richard Quah said his company also found smuggled Pirelli tyres, noting that genuine imports carry laser-etched markings which were missing on the seized stock.
Following the raids, tyre company representatives met with MACC special operations division senior director, Zamri Zainul Abidin, to discuss strategies to curb smuggling. Zamri said the companies welcomed the enforcement actions because they allowed manufacturers to verify firsthand the authenticity of the seized tyres.
“Today, we asked industry players to go down to the ground themselves and visit the warehouses raided in Ops Grip so they can understand the issues more closely and expedite solutions. More importantly, this is about road safety,” he said, as quoted by New Straits Times.
The involvement of the tyre manufacturers continued during the inspection of storage warehouses in the Klang Valley, Penang, and Johor. Previously, the MACC and the Ops Grip task force had seized a total of 17,672 tyres from these sites. The tyre manufacturers then helped the task force to examine them using batch records, labelling, and other traceability features.
Many of the illegal tyres originated from Europe and, therefore, may not be suitable for Malaysia’s climate, raising concerns about grip, overheating, and durability. Furthermore, the discovery of falsified manufacturing dates underscores additional safety risks for motorists, who may unknowingly purchase expired or degraded tyres sold as new.
According to MACC, the inspections uncovered widespread label fraud and the erasure of barcodes by importers to disguise origin and also bypass Malaysia’s safety standards. Authorities also further seized assets worth RM12.5 million, including land, houses, and shop lots, bringing total seizures to RM82.5 million.
Speaking to reporters after an anti-graft programme in Kampung Malaysia Raya on October 5, MACC Kuala Lumpur director Mohamad Zakkuan Talib called for a cultural shift to support enforcement efforts.
“Parents must instil honesty and trustworthiness from an early age. Don’t normalise giving ‘hush money’ to hide mistakes,” he said. “Corruption is like fire. It may seem small, but left unchecked, it can burn homes, villages and entire nations. When students buy exam answers or village leaders show favouritism because of bribes, public trust begins to erode.”
MACC‘s Ops Grip was launched following a complaint from an Italian tyre maker. It began by targeting smuggling networks and storage facilities, resulting in large-scale seizures and frozen funds. It has since expanded to include retail raids, direct examination by global tyre makers, and further asset freezing.
