JPJ: Ops Luxury seized 3,790 luxury vehicles, Negeri Sembilan highest at 469

A car on the road with both its road tax and its insurance expired. JPJ says it has seized 3,790 of them — and every one is a luxury vehicle.

JPJ senior enforcement director Datuk Muhammad Kifli Ma Hassan, speaking at the Kelantan JPJ office in Panji, Kota Bharu on 27 September 2026, said Ops Luxury has seized 3,790 luxury vehicles since June 2025, worth an estimated RM550 million: 785 of them between June and December 2025, and another 3,005 from January to 26 September 2026. Bernama, Malay · Bernama, English

As of 28 September 2026 those figures are not in any official JPJ media statement. The press conference is the entire paper trail.

What stands out

• 3,790 vehicles, worth an estimated RM550 million. Bernama, Malay
• All 15 states and federal territories add up to exactly 3,790. That makes it the complete national picture, not a selection.
• The offences picked up most often are expired road tax and expired insurance. Kifli also cited driving without a valid driving licence, along with other technical faults on the vehicles themselves. RTM
• One car had not had its road tax renewed since 2014. NST quoted him as saying there were records going back to 2020 as well, and cases of one person running two or three vehicles on the same registration number, which added further offences. NST
• The reason owners gave was that they were already blacklisted. Kifli said lower-income owners still turn up at the counter to settle their summonses and renew their road tax, while luxury owners in the T20 bracket claimed they could not — right up to the day the car was seized. Being blacklisted, he said, means the owner should come forward and settle the matter through the proper procedure, not carry on driving.
• A Jeep Wrangler worth nearly RM500,000 was seized. It belongs to a well-known Kelantan businesswoman and was taken at Jalan Taman Tengku Anis over an expired motor vehicle licence — the LKM, which is the road tax. Sinar Harian and NST both carried it, and the date, Thursday, 24 September 2026, is NST's; Sinar Harian also has Kifli's remark that driving a luxury car does not make anyone immune to the law. Sinar Harian · NST

How the 3,790 break down

Most outlets listed only the top five: Negeri Sembilan 469, Selangor 410, the federal territory of Kuala Lumpur 382, Johor 367 and Penang 357. Those five add up to 1,985 vehicles, or 52.4% of the 3,790. The remaining 1,805 are spread across the other ten states and federal territories.

Only Sinar Harian listed all ten: Perak 293, Kelantan 251, Pahang 245, Kedah 225, Melaka 207, Terengganu 174, Sarawak 153, Sabah 148, Putrajaya 69 and Perlis 40. Sinar Harian

Kosmo's figures match on five of them — Perak 293, Kelantan 251, Pahang 245, Kedah 225 and Melaka 207 — and it ranks Kelantan seventh and Pahang eighth. Kosmo

Add all 15 states and federal territories together and the total is exactly 3,790, with nothing left over: nothing unaccounted for, and no separate entry for Labuan.

Has it been announced officially?

As of 28 September 2026 the latest item in JPJ's official media statements is still the one dated 6 July 2026, on JPJ tightening enforcement against "ulat" activity at KLIA. Ops Luxury is not in that list. A site search on jpj.gov.my for "ops luxury" returns a results page saying nothing matched the search terms and suggesting a different keyword. On the English-language page, the latest statement is dated 20 May 2026, on the special operation against overloading by commercial vehicles. JPJ media statements, Malay · JPJ media statements, English

So the 3,790, the RM550 million and the state numbers all trace back to one place: the press conference of 27 September 2026.

What only one outlet has, and where two disagree

• Two versions of the cut-off date. Bernama in both languages, NST, Kosmo and RTM all point to 26 September 2026 — Bernama's English report and Kosmo put it as the day before the press conference, RTM as the Saturday, all pointing to the same day. Only Sinar Harian runs the count to 15 September 2026, and attributes that to Kifli as well. The state figures in both versions are identical.
• Two figures for the most expensive one. Sinar Harian puts it at RM8.5 million; NST puts it at RM8.8 million. Same press conference.
• Three versions of what the 20% refers to. Bernama's Malay report says an estimated 20% of the luxury owners are cosmetics entrepreneurs, influencers and business people. Sinar Harian says more than 20% of the owners acted against in the operation fall into that group. NST says more than 20% of the 3,790 vehicles seized are linked to owners classified as T20. All three are here as written.
• Old summonses over speed limits, in all three. Sinar Harian, NST and Kosmo all point to old cases of failing to comply with speed limits; only Kosmo also names an AWAS summons.
• Only in NST. The 2020 records and the shared registration number above come from NST alone, and so does his remark at the press conference of 27 September 2026 that the department collected about RM35 million last year from summons payments and motor vehicle licence-related payments.
• Two figures the newsrooms reworded themselves. Kosmo's headline figure of "12 tahun" is its own arithmetic from the 2014 date and is not in its body text; JPJ did not put it that way. Sinar Harian's opening paragraph turns the 3,790 into 3,790 owners in the T20 bracket, whereas every other outlet has 3,790 vehicles.

Which section, and how much

The sections and penalties below come from the Road Transport Act 1987 (Act 333) as published on the Attorney General's Chambers site. The AGC says at the head of the text that this is only an updated text prepared by the Chambers and is not an authentic text unless and until it is reprinted under the Revision of Laws Act; this version is as at 15 October 2023.

Every figure below is a ceiling or a range applied by a court on conviction, not an amount payable on the spot at the roadside.

• Using a vehicle with no road tax in force. The prohibition is section 15(1) and the penalty is section 23(1): on conviction, a fine not exceeding RM2,000.
• No third-party insurance. Section 90(1) sets the prohibition and section 90(2) the penalty: on conviction, a fine not exceeding RM1,000, or imprisonment for a term not exceeding three months, or both; and unless the court, for special reasons specified in the order, thinks fit to order otherwise, and without prejudice to the power of the court to order a longer period of disqualification, the person convicted is also disqualified from holding or obtaining a driving licence for twelve months from the date of conviction.
• Driving without a driving licence. Sections 26(1) and 26(2): on conviction, a fine of not less than RM300 and not more than RM2,000, or imprisonment for a term not exceeding three months, or both — the minimum and the maximum a court may impose.
• A registration number not displayed as required. Section 14(1) requires the number to be displayed and illuminated in the manner prescribed by rules made under the Act, and section 14(4) carries the penalty: on conviction, a fine of not less than RM300 and not more than RM3,000.
• Exhibiting on a vehicle a licence, mark, plate or document that does not belong to it. Section 108(3): on conviction, a fine of not less than RM5,000 and not more than RM20,000, or imprisonment for a term of not less than one year and not exceeding five years, or both — once again, the minimum and the maximum a court may impose.
• The ceiling on a compound. Section 120(1) says that, with the written consent of the Public Prosecutor, the officers listed there may compound an offence prescribed as compoundable by collecting from the person reasonably suspected of it a sum of money not exceeding RM300. That is the statutory ceiling on a compound, not a RM300 penalty for expired road tax — what the roadside compound actually comes to is not written on any official page.
• Detention of the vehicle. Section 64(1) says that, provided and subject to subsection (3), a vehicle is not to be detained longer than is necessary to establish the driver's identity or to secure the discontinuance of the offence. Section 64(4) says that if the owner does not claim the vehicle within three months from the date of detention, the officer refers the matter to a Magistrate, who makes such order as he thinks fit on forfeiture or disposal. Road Transport Act 1987, AGC updated text.pdf)

Questions readers ask

• The car sits at home and never moves. Does the road tax still have to be renewed? Yes. JPJ's renewal guide requires the vehicle to have insurance cover for the licence period applied for, and an inactive vehicle also needs a PUSPAKOM inspection report that is still in force. JPJ: renewing a motor vehicle licence
• When can it be renewed? Only a licence due to expire within two months may be renewed, and the period allowed is six months or one year (a separate JPJ page, on checking a licence expiry date, puts it at two months in advance, for a minimum of six months and up to a maximum of one year). Your own car's expiry date is on that page. JPJ: checking a licence expiry date
• What if the last licence lapsed more than three years ago? Where the expiry date of the vehicle's last licence is more than three years before the date of application, the vehicle has to undergo and pass inspection: a PUSPAKOM inspection for all vehicles. The car that the press conference described as unrenewed since 2014 is well past that three-year mark.
• How does someone get blacklisted? JPJ's blacklist status page says a driver or owner who is issued a summons or a notice and does not pay the compound within 60 days is referred to the court; if they do not appear for mention, the owner, the vehicle or the driving licence is blacklisted until the case is settled. Whether you are on that list is on the same page. JPJ: blacklist status
• Who can claim a seized vehicle, and what must they bring? JPJ's claim procedure page says the registered owner claims it, bringing a valid road tax and insurance where relevant, a driving licence still in force, the MyKad and a photocopy, and, for a company vehicle, Borang 49 from SSM. Release depends on any one of three things: the identity of the driver or the vehicle has been established, the offence has been stopped or rectified, or the court has ordered the release. JPJ: claiming a seized vehicle
• A private car registered to a company: does the licence still have to be displayed physically? Yes. JPJ's FAQ says that from 10 February 2023 the categories that still have to produce or display documents physically include a company's private motor vehicle licence. JPJ: super app FAQ
• The summons is not mine. Why am I the one being chased? Section 109 of the Act says that for the purpose of any prosecution or proceedings under the Act, the registered owner of a vehicle is deemed to be its owner.
• Four things the official pages do not set out. Whether a lapsed road tax has any grace period, what the roadside compound comes to, what it costs to get a seized vehicle back, and how long a vehicle may be held — none of that is written on JPJ's pages. Section 64(3) goes no further than requiring the removal and detention fees to be paid, and the fees themselves are not published on any official page.

Where to renew, where to pay

• The official channels for renewing a licence. JPJ's FAQ says that at this stage a licence is still renewed through the existing channels: a JPJ counter, the post office, MyEG, PUSPAKOM, a kiosk or the JPJ portal. The same page separately lists JPJ and UTC counters, JPJ kiosks, the JPJ Mobile counter and the JPJ public portal, and says the service is also available through JPJ's appointed strategic partners Pos Malaysia, MyEG and PUSPAKOM.
• The MyJPJ app cannot handle renewals yet. The same page lists renewal of the driving licence (LMM) and the motor vehicle licence (LKM) as new functions to be announced later.
• Where to pay a summons. JPJ's summons payment page says payment can be made through the MyJPJ app, the JPJ public portal and MyEG, or at any JPJ state office, branch, small office, UTC or JPJ kiosk. A summons that cannot be compounded has to be settled at the court named in the summons notice. JPJ: how to pay a JPJ summons
• Five summonses per transaction. The FAQ says online payment is limited to active and DNAA summonses that can be compounded, and that each transaction is capped at five summonses.

Before you drive it out

• If the car is sitting under the carport and never moves, the road tax still falls due; an inactive vehicle also needs a PUSPAKOM report that is still in force.
• If your road tax still has three months to run, hold off on going to the counter: only a licence due to expire within two months may be renewed.
• If the expiry date of the last licence is more than three years before the date you apply, book the PUSPAKOM inspection and collect the report first, then renew.

Every corner, everywhere.