PETALING JAYA: Three smuggling syndicates were smashed by the Customs Department, with rice and liquor valued at more than RM2.09mil seized.
Customs Central Zone assistant director-general Norlela Ismail said that the department’s raiding teams also arrested five people who acted as agents, warehouse keepers and lorry drivers through raids conducted in Selangor and Kuala Lumpur in September and October.
According to her, the first seizure involved 15,390 kg of rice, worth RM227,000, with taxes and duties totalling RM91,000, believed to have been brought in from India for the local market, Bernama reported.
“The raid was carried out on Sept 30, following an inspection of a container at Port Klang, Selangor, which found several food products.
“Their modus operandi is to make a false declaration of ‘Assorted Food Bag’ on customs Form 1 to avoid submitting an import licence during importation, by deliberately placing the rice merchandise at the back of the container load, with other food items,” she said at a press conference at the Kuala Lumpur Customs Complex here yesterday.
Norlela said that the second and third raids involved the seizure of various brands of liquor in October at business premises in Jalan Tun HS Lee, Kuala Lumpur, and a warehouse in an industrial area in Balakong Jaya, Selangor.
She said that the two raids involved the seizure of more than 30,000 litres of various brands of liquor, estimated to be worth almost RM300,000, with taxes and duties of approximately RM1.48mil.
All cases are still under investigation under Section 135(1)(d) of the Customs Act 1967.
Meanwhile, in Kuala Lumpur, police detained 361 people suspected of involvement in illegal money lending, or loan sharking, during a nationwide operation conducted over nine days from Nov 4.
Bukit Aman Commercial Crime Investigation Department (CCID) director, Datuk Seri Ramli Mohamed Yoosuf, said the suspects, aged between 18 and 77, held various roles, including money lenders, debt collectors, customer service officers, money distribution agents, mule account holders, paint splashing agents, and distributors of flyers and posters.
“We also seized computers, business licences, 1,439 loan cards, company stamps, 247 borrower files, and RM12,994 in cash,” he said in a press conference at the CCID headquarters on Tuesday.
Ramli added that 136 investigation papers have been initiated in connection with the arrests, with 25 of them involving 41 accused persons already charged in court. The remaining cases are being investigated under Sections 5(2), 29AA, and 29B of the Moneylenders Act 1951.
He also noted that in 2012 there were 977 loan shark cases recorded, increasing to 989 cases in 2022 and 1,162 cases in 2023, with 777 as of October this year.
