Two missing US-made fighter jet engines, worth US$29 million and stolen from a Malaysian military airbase, have been traced to Argentina, police said yesterday.
Police chief Musa Hasan said officers were checking with their counterparts in Buenos Aires to confirm if the missing engines are still in the country.
“The stolen engines have been taken to Argentina,” the police chief said. “We have to check if the engines are still in that country.”
Musa told the Star newspaper that several top air force officers, including generals, are expected to be questioned in connection with the theft.
Four people, including three low-ranking personnel, have already been arrested and freed on bail for their alleged role in the theft, he said, according to the daily.
“We need to question all of them as it is not easy to just cart away the engines without authorization and proper documents,” he was quoted as saying.
The Malaysian government is facing a storm of criticism over allegations of official corruption after the theft of the engines.
News reports this week said the two Northrop F-5E jet engines had been sold on the black market by military officers to a South American company after being taken from a military airbase, apparently last year.
Armed forces chief Azizan Ariffin said the theft was only the “tip of the iceberg” after a newly completed audit revealed equipment worth millions of ringgit was missing, the New Straits Times reported on Tuesday.
Besides the engines, military equipment including parts of the jet fighter were stolen.
A number of countries subject to US arms embargoes, including Iran, Sudan and Venezuela, have F-5 fighters that use the antiquated engines.
A beauty queen who pulled out of the Miss South Africa competition when her nationality was questioned has said she wants to relocate to Nigeria, after coming second in the Miss Universe pageant while representing the West African country. Chidimma Adetshina, whose father is Nigerian, was crowned Miss Universe Africa and Oceania and was runner-up to Denmark’s Victoria Kjar Theilvig in Mexico on Saturday night. The 23-year-old law student withdrew from the Miss South Africa competition in August, saying that she needed to protect herself and her family after the government alleged that her mother had stolen the identity of a South
BELT-TIGHTENING: Chinese investments in Cambodia are projected to drop to US$35 million in 2026 from more than US$420 million in 2021 At a ceremony in August, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet knelt to receive blessings from saffron-robed monks as fireworks and balloons heralded the breaking of ground for a canal he hoped would transform his country’s economic fortunes. Addressing hundreds of people waving the Cambodian flag, Hun Manet said China would contribute 49 percent to the funding of the Funan Techo Canal that would link the Mekong River to the Gulf of Thailand and reduce Cambodia’s shipping reliance on Vietnam. Cambodia’s government estimates the strategic, if contentious, infrastructure project would cost US$1.7 billion, nearly 4 percent of the nation’s annual GDP. However, months later,
Texas’ education board on Friday voted to allow Bible-infused teachings in elementary schools, joining other Republican-led US states that pushed this year to give religion a larger presence in public classrooms. The curriculum adopted by the Texas State Board of Education, which is controlled by elected Republicans, is optional for schools to adopt, but they would receive additional funding if they do so. The materials could appear in classrooms as early as next school year. Republican Texas Governor Greg Abbott has voiced support for the lesson plans, which were provided by the state’s education agency that oversees the more than
The Philippine Department of Justice yesterday labeled Vice President Sara Duterte the “mastermind” of a plot to assassinate the nation’s president, giving her five days to respond to a subpoena. Duterte is being asked to explain herself in the wake of a blistering weekend press conference where she said she had instructed that Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr be killed should an alleged plot to kill her succeed. “The government is taking action to protect our duly elected president,” Philippine Undersecretary of Justice Jesse Andres said at yesterday’s press briefing. “The premeditated plot to assassinate the president as declared by the self-confessed mastermind
RSS