The Perak government has found that sand theft is still happening in the state, with hardware stores used as fronts to fool the authorities.

Menteri Besar Zambry Abdul Kadir said stolen sand was being kept at the yards of these stores before being sold.

"They are slick operators. What we know is that there are hardware stores selling sand in small quantities to buyers... can be up to a lorry load or even a partial load.

"Sand thieves are using hardware stores to circumvent the authorities," he told reporters after chairing the weekly state executive committee meeting in Ipoh today.

He said the findings were made by the special committee set by the state goverment to tackle sand theft.

He added that the state government would be working closely with the police and the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) to bring the culprits to book.

- Bernama