MIRI: The Sarawak Royal Malaysian Customs Department has successfully thwarted a bid to sell contraband cigarettes estimated to be worth RM103,543.81 including uncustomed tax on Monday.
According to State Customs director Datuk Sharifah Halimah Tuanku Taha, a team from Miri Customs ambushed a canteen in a plantation estate in Kuala Baram at 11.10am.
“Upon inspection, the team found various brands of contraband cigarettes totalling 123,504 sticks which were kept inside the store of the premises.
“The value of the confiscated cigarettes including the unpaid duties amounted to RM103,543.81,” she said in a statement.
During the raid, a man was also arrested to assist in the investigation.
Sharifah said the cigarettes were sold at the canteen to meet the demand of workers at the estate.
The case is being investigated under Section 135 (1)(d) of Customs Act 1967. If convicted, the offender can be fined not less than 10 times the amount of goods or RM100,000 whichever is greater, and not more than 20 times the amount of goods or RM500,000 whichever is greater, or jailed not less than six months and not more than five years, or both.
In Ipoh, a Bernama reported that the Perak Customs Department confiscated two million cigarettes of various brands worth RM2 million, including tax, in an inspection at a house in Sitiawan, Lumut, about 90 kilometres from the city, on Feb 12.
Perak Custom’s director Dr Mohamad Saprin said, following a tip-off from the public, an inspection of the house was carried out at 11.50am, however, no one was in the house.
“Investigations are still underway to determine who the mastermind behind the case is and so far, no arrests have been made. We are still investigating whether the house owner was involved in the case or not,” he told a press conference yesterday.
Meanwhile, a Customs enforcement team from the Lumut branch seized 6,888 cans of beer and 1,740 bottles of hard liquor worth RM125,000, including tax, in Cheras, Selangor on Feb 20.
All the seized items were found in a house and in a lorry parked nearby at about 5.30pm, he said adding that the lorry had also been seized and that Customs was now trying to locate the owner of the house and the lorry, he said.
