MELAKA, Nov 24 — The Royal Malaysian Customs Department’s (RMCD) Narcotics Branch, together with the Melaka RMCD, seized 130,000 packets containing 2.6 million sticks of white cigarettes, believed to be of the ‘John D-Blend’ brand, worth RM1.94 million, including tax, in Negri Sembilan on November 20.
Melaka RMCD director Siti Zaleha Mohd Said said the smuggled cigarettes that was believed to have been brought in from a neighbouring country were seized from a lorry in Kota, Rembau at around 4am.
She said a 37-year-old man who was also the lorry driver was detained to assist further investigations.
“The seizure was done based on intelligence conducted for a week. When the lorry was detained, inspections found 260 boxes filled with the white cigarettes.
“The estimated value of the seized cigarettes is around RM208,000 while the customs tax is around RM1.736 million,” she said during a press conference today.
Elaborating further, Siti Zaleha said the smuggled cigarettes were believed to be for the local market and the smuggling syndicate’s modus operandi was to use rural routes that were rarely used by vehicles and to travel during early mornings.
She said the newest discovery in the seizure was that the white cigarettes were packed in small quantities, namely five sticks per packet, and they believed to be targeting youths or students, in addition to the standard 20-cigarette packets.
She said the case was being investigated under Section 135(1) (e) of the Customs Act 1967 as well as Section 74(1)(d) of the Excise Act 1976.
In addition, 92 smuggled cigarette seizures involving 14.94 million sticks of cigarettes, worth RM1.58 million with a tax value of RM10.03 million, were recorded since Jan 1, she said. — Bernama
