JOHOR BARU: Five smuggling attempts across the state were foiled between July and August, resulting in the seizure of contraband cigarettes and alcohol worth RM11.7mil, says the Customs Department.
Its state director Aminul Izmeer Mohd Sohaimi (pic) said the crimes involved making false declarations of goods to evade detection by Customs officers.
He said the first raid was carried out on July 17, where a container that was falsely declared as carrying plastic items was intercepted at Port of Tanjung Pelepas.
“Upon inspection, officers discovered the container was loaded with undeclared cigarettes.
“The container was marked for transshipment from Singapore and was heading towards China, and contained goods valued at RM8.4mil,” he said at Menara Kastam Johor here yesterday.
On July 18, another container of contraband alcohol was seized at Pasir Gudang Port.
“The container was falsely declared as carrying ‘Chinese prayer accessories’. The seized items were valued at more than RM1mil including taxes,” he said.
On Aug 16, officers raided a warehouse in Kuchai Lama, Kuala Lumpur, and seized cigarettes and alcohol valued at RM768,426 including tax.
“The warehouse, located in an industrial area, was suspected of being used by a syndicate as a storage facility for undeclared cigarettes and alcohol before they were to be distributed to the public,” he added.
The fourth raid was conducted on Aug 17 where the department seized RM857,862 worth of undeclared cigarettes and alcohol at the imports inspection section at Bangunan Sultan Iskandar.
“A lorry that was passing through the ‘Empty Truck Lane’ was found to be loaded with the contraband. The driver fled and abandoned the lorry,” he said.
On Aug 20, enforcement officers inspected a vehicle in a car park at Taman Impian Emas here.
“The car had undeclared cigarettes inside worth RM539,000, which were suspected to be sold to the public,” Aminul Izmeer said.
All the cases are being investigated under Section 135 of the Customs Act 1967.
In an unrelated case, Aminul Izmeer said that the department’s marine surveillance team from Sungai Pulai confiscated drugs worth RM1.3mil during a raid on the beach at Jalan Perpat Laut, Rengit, in Batu Pahat.
The operation was conducted on Aug 20 at 2pm, where the officers recovered a wheeled bag concealed under a styrofoam box.
“Officers found methamphetamine, ketamine, and Ecstasy packed in plastic bags marked with Chinese tea labels.
“The seized drugs had an estimated total weight of 2.9kg, with a street value of RM1.3mil.”
