MELAKA, Oct 17 — The Royal Malaysian Customs Department (JKDM) confiscated cigarettes, alcohol and imported rice, worth over RM10.3 million, that were smuggled into the country between April and October 1, said its deputy director-general Datuk Sazali Mohamad.
He said the seizures were carried out through inspections carried out in several areas in the Peninsula, especially in Port Klang, as well as through surveillance patrols conducted by his team.
“We foiled four attempts to smuggle in a total of 11,754,000 sticks of white cigarettes; two attempts to smuggle in 33,420 litres of alcohol; and one attempt to smuggle in 11,940 kilogrammes (kg) of imported rice during that period” he told a press conference at Ayer Keroh Wisma Kastam here today.
He said the biggest success involved the confiscation of a lorry laden with 5,084,000 sticks of cigarettes, valued at RM3,802,832, on September 3 at the rest and services (R&R) area of the Ayer Keroh overhead bridge restaurant along the North-South Expressway (Southbound).
He said his men conducted an inspection on the lorry at about 3.30pm that day and found a stash of cigarettes loaded into boxes wrapped in black plastic.
“To avoid detection by us, the lorry travelled during the wee hours of the morning. The lorry driver, in his 40s, was detained,” he said.
Sazali also said his team believed the cigarettes and alcohol were smuggled in from neighbouring countries through the waterways in the East Coast before being distributed to the southern areas (of the Peninsula) for the foreign worker market.
He added that other modus operandi used by the smugglers was to declare the imported goods as some other items and using unnumbered and dilapidated premises to carry out their liquor processing and bottling operations.
Those with information on smuggling activities can call the JKDM toll-free number at 1-800-88-8855 or contact the nearest Customs office. — Bernama
