Three individuals, including a foreign national, were apprehended last week by the Road Transport Department (JPJ) for profiting from offering illegal “prebet sapu” transport services.
Melaka JPJ Director Siti Zarina Mohd Yusop said all three, aged around 40, were using private vehicles, including a Toyota Vellfire, to ferry foreign tourists without proper authorization.
On January 31, a locally-driven Toyota Hiace van, operated by a 40-year-old Malaysian, was stopped while transporting five Chinese tourists from a resort in Alor Gajah to Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA). Preliminary investigations revealed the driver charged RM50 per passenger for the trip from Melaka to KLIA and offered similar services from Kuala Lumpur to Melaka without valid permits.
“Inspections showed that the driver did not hold a valid driving license, and the vehicle’s motor vehicle license (LKM) and insurance had expired. During questioning, he admitted charging RM50 per tourist, claiming that the company van was at PUSPAKOM and he had to use his private van instead,” Siti Zarina said.
Another case involved a Toyota Vellfire driven by a local resident, ferrying four Chinese tourists from Kuala Lumpur to Melaka. The travel fee was reportedly included in the tour package purchased by the tourists, but the vehicle lacked a valid LKM and insurance, with the private license being misused.
Meanwhile, a white Proton Exora driven by a Middle Eastern national was stopped on January 31 while transporting two Saudi tourists from Kuala Lumpur to Melaka. Each tourist had purchased a 13-day tour package worth RM16,000 from an agency, but the driver lacked a valid license and misused the private LKM of the vehicle.
During the same operation, another Proton Exora driven by an Iraqi national was seized for an expired license and LKM, although it was not being used for “prebet sapu” activities.
Siti Zarina emphasized that strict action would be taken to curb the growing “prebet sapu” operations, particularly involving foreign tourists, as the practice is illegal and poses serious safety risks to passengers and other road users.
