Mohd Nasir (third from left) showing the seized items during the press conference.
KOTA KINABALU: Smugglers tried to pass off contraband beer as consignments of smartphone accessories, household items and spare parts for excavators at the Sepanggar port near here.
The Customs Department, however, thwarted the smuggling of about RM1.5mil worth of beer, including unpaid taxes, after scanning the items at the port.
Sabah Customs assistant director-general Datuk Mohd Nasir Deraman said the beers came in three containers from a neighbouring country on April 24.
After scanning the containers, he said, they found 70,407 litres of various types of beer instead of the items declared on the manifest.
“The drinks have a value of RM298,442, and the unpaid duty totals more than RM1.2mil. We suspect the smugglers aimed to evade both taxes and the import procedures,” he said at a press conference on Tuesday (June 4).
Meanwhile, Mohd Nasir said the department launched a separate operation codenamed “Ops Tuai” to weed out contraband goods in eight districts on May 22.
He said they seized 16,767 litres of illicit alcoholic drinks as well as 15,480 cigarette sticks in the exercise.
The raiding teams, he added, also seized two lorries, a van and a car, all of which were used to keep and distribute the items.
“Altogether, the seized items were worth an estimated RM456,647,” he added.
Towards this end, Mohd Nasir urged the public to cooperate with the department to combat smuggling activities by reporting such incidents to its toll-free line at 1-800-88-8855.
He gave assurance that the identity of informants would remain confidential.
