PASIR MAS, Oct 29 — Twenty-one puppies, worth RM168,000, believed to be from breeds that are rare in the country were seized by the 9th Battalion of the General Operations Force (GOF9), yesterday.

GOF9 commanding officer, Supt Nor Azizan Yusof said in the operation, his team intercepted a four-wheel drive near Gua Nering, here, at 6.30 am.

He said the smuggling activity was initially detected at the Kubang Rambutan illegal jetty after his team became suspicious of the Pajero. 

"Realising he was being tailed, the driver sped off towards the Rantau Panjang-Pasir Mas road and then proceeded to Taman Pertama, near Gua Nering, before being intercepted.

"Upon investigation of the four-wheeler, nine cages with 21 puppies of various rare breeds were found,” Nor Azizan said in a statement, today.

A man was detained and a report lodged at the Rantau Panjang police station. Meanwhile, the puppies were sent to the Taman Bakti Tactical Company (Komtak) for further action.

"The seized puppies and vehicle estimated at RM193,000 were handed over to the Malaysian Quarantine and Inspection Services Department (Maqis) for further action,” he said. — Bernama