Horse, Kangaroo Meat Sold As 'Halal Beef'

AUTHOR: Mohamed Basyir SECTION: LOCAL NEWS PAGE: 1,4 PRINTED SIZE: 1053.00cm² REGION: KL MARKET: Malaysia PHOTO: Full Color ASR: MYR 36,159.00 ITEM ID: MY0042256461

22 DEC, 2020 HORSE, KANGAROO MEAT SOLD AS `HALAL BEEF’

New Straits Times, Malaysia Page 1 of 3 i sr la hi at yf cb pi

eXclusive Neitherbeef Norhalal

Kangaroo andhorse meat imported into thecountryby meansofdeception is beingrepackagedand sold as beef to consumers. ThenST,inthe second part of an expose of acartel’sactivities, also finds outhow muchgovernment officers arepaidtoclose their eyes to the wrongdoings.

»reporTs by MoHaMed BasYir ON pages 4&5

Provided for client's internal research purposes only. May not be further copied, distributed, sold or published in any form without the prior consent of the copyright owner. AUTHOR: Mohamed Basyir SECTION: LOCAL NEWS PAGE: 1,4 PRINTED SIZE: 1053.00cm² REGION: KL MARKET: Malaysia PHOTO: Full Color ASR: MYR 36,159.00 ITEM ID: MY0042256461

22 DEC, 2020 HORSE, KANGAROO MEAT SOLD AS `HALAL BEEF’

New Straits Times, Malaysia Page 2 of 3

SYNDICATE EXPOSÉ HORSE, KANGAROO MEAT SOLD AS ‘HALAL BEEF’ Cartel buys cheap, to 50 percent cheaper than meat Canada, Colombia, Ukraine, obtained from certified slaugh- Uruguay,Spain, Mexico,Bolivia, low-quality meat terhouses and processing plants. Paraguay, Hong Kong and Chi- “Themeat would then be na. and mixes it with shipped to Malaysia and ferried Countries whose processing out via trucks and lorries to car tel plant s’ halal accreditations are halal-certified meat warehouses, whereit is mixe d recognised bythe VeterinarySer- with certified halal meat. vices Department and Depart- to avoid taxes “Coupled with it avoiding taxes ment of Islamic Development and the procedures involved in Malaysia (Jakim) are Australia, importing certifiedhalalmeat, Argentina, Brazil, India, South MOHAMED BASYIR the cartel stands to make a Africa, Pakistan, Japan, New KUALA LUMPUR healthy profit,”said a source. Zealand and the United States. news@ns t.com.my It is understood that the cartel The source said the loss in po- takes delivery offrozen imported tential government revenue from HE New Straits Times’ meat at least three times a week the smuggling is estimated to be exposé ofthe activities of from abroad. around RM1.5 million a month. a syndicate, which The meat, imported from coun- The source said corrupt gov- Tsmuggled in non-certi- tries whose halal certifications ernment officers were willing to fied meat and sold it in Malaysia are not recognised by Malaysian take bribes ofbetween RM150 as halal products, has unearthed authorities, would arrive via and RM3,000 to close their eyes A customer looking at fresh meat sold at a shop in Kuala Lumpur. PIC BY more startling revelations. ships at Malaysian ports. to enable these cargoes to be re- ASWADI ALIAS The frozen meat imported by According to the source, over leas ed. the cartelfromnon-certified 60 containers of these goods were Officerson the ground, mean- cieswere bribed by the cartelto had a solid systemin place to countriesisnot limited to beef, brought in betweenNovember while, allegedly receive payouts ensurethat itssupply of non-cer- ensurethat the products,from but also includeshorse meatand last year and April into Northport of betweenRM150 and RM500to tified meat entered the country the slaughterhouseuntil they kangaroo meat. and Westport in Port Klang. release each container. and bypassed checks. le avethe ports for the markets, These items would, upon ar- Upon arrivalat the ports, the Each container, said the source, A source told the NST that escaped official scrutiny. rival in Malaysia, be mixed with shipment would bypassche cks had about 25 tonnes of meat, by importing non-certified meat Ja k i m and the Veterinary Ser- beef in warehouses n a ti onwi de and be madeavailable for the which would be sent to the car- and mixing it with meat from vices Department are understood run by the cartelbefore being market. te l ’s warehouses for repackaging legitimate sources, the cartel to be responsible for the certi- sold to unknowing supplier s. “We have determined that the and slapped with bogus halal profited from avoiding taxes and fication and quality of the im- Sources told the New Straits cartel brings in 300 to 400 con- s ticker s. dutiesas well as the costs in- ported items. Times that among the stock they tainersa month,which originate The products would be dis- volved inthe halal-certification The Malaysian Departmentof bring in are kangaroo meat, horse from non-certified processing tributed to markets and whole- pro ce ss. Quarantine and Inspection Ser- meat and beef.However, the beef plantsas well as countrieswhose salersbefore being sold to con- The report stated that the car- vice s, Royal Customs Depart- is from animals of poor quality or halal accreditations are not sumer s. te l ’ s activities had been going on ment and portpolice, mean- even diseased, so it is obtained at recognised byMalaysian author- The NST yesterdayfrontpag e d for 40 years. while, are in charge of managing much lower prices. itie s.” how senior and junior officers in The report detailed the cartel’s the suppliesonce they entered “The cartelbuys the meat at up These,said the source,include at least four government agen- years of operationsmeant that it Malaysian ports.

22 DEC, 2020 HORSE, KANGAROO MEAT SOLD AS `HALAL BEEF’

New Straits Times, Malaysia Page 3 of 3 SUMMARIES Neitherbeef Norhalal eXclusive

Kangaroo and horse meat imported into the country by means of deception is being repackaged and sold as beef to consumers. The nST, in the second part of an expose of a cartel’s activities, also finds out how much government officers are paid to close their eyes to the wrongdoings.

Provided for client's internal research purposes only. May not be further copied, distributed, sold or published in any form without the prior consent of the copyright owner.