The Malaysian authorities have found 110 containers of hazardous heavy metals from Romania that entered the country illegally, Reuters reported. The containers, bound for Indonesia, were abandoned last month.

Some 1,864 tonnes of electric arc furnace dust (EAFD), a by-product of steel production that contains heavy metals like zinc, cadmium, and lead, were found abandoned at the Tanjung Pelepas port, in the state of Johor, the country’s Environment and Water Minister Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man said.

The shipment of EAFD, which is listed as toxic waste under the Basel Convention, had been classified as concentrated zinc in declaration forms.

Malaysia has contacted the Romanian Basel Convention authority to arrange for the repatriation of the containers.

Interpol has been contacted for further investigations.

(Photo: Anutr Yossundara | Dreamstime.com)

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