SEPANG: A major smuggling syndicate was crippled and contraband worth RM1.76mil was seized in August, says the Customs Department.
On Aug 13, a raiding team discovered 84 master cases containing 500,800 sticks of white cigarettes and 63 master cases filled with old newspapers, loaded on four commercial pallets, according to the department’s central zone enforcement operations director Zulkifli Muhammad.
“A thorough inspection found that the white cigarettes were entered as cargo through the KL International Airport Free Commercial Zone without a valid permit, and declared as ‘clothes and jeans’.
“The estimated value of the seized goods is RM50,080, with duties and taxes amounting to RM335,536. Preliminary investigations revealed that the white cigarettes had no documentation confirming that duties had been paid upon entry into Malaysia,” he said in a statement, Bernama reported.
On Aug 16, daily inspections at the cargo terminal within the Free Commercial Zone at KLIA also uncovered 804,000 sticks of white cigarettes valued at RM618,800, including duties and taxes, believed to be intended for export to Australia.
“The syndicate’s modus operandi was to declare goods in the invoice as ‘raincoat and cigarette’ and use cargo delivery services to deceive the authorities,” Zulkifli said.
Regarding a shisha tobacco smuggling case on Aug 19, he said the raiding team seized 3,000kg of undeclared shisha tobacco imported into Malaysia.
“This merchandise with an estimated value of RM405,000, including duties and taxes of RM313,863.75, is believed to be for the local market.
“This syndicate declared the goods as ‘AF Molasses’ in the manifest documents and used cargo delivery services to mislead the authorities,” he said.
On Aug 13 and 21, he said, a team comprising the Customs Department’s Central Zone Unit III and the police raided two business premises in Kuala Lumpur as part of Ops Royal 2024.
“Inspections found 323.61 litres of suspected undeclared liquor, bearing counterfeit Customs Tax labels,” Zulkifli said, adding the estimated value of the seized goods was RM7,300, with duties of RM32,200.
The premises owners, both Malaysians in their 40s, were detained.
