MIRI: Sarawak Customs and Excise Department has seized two containers of cigarettes worth an estimated RM8.6 million at the Baram Port last Friday.
With the seizure, the department believes it has smashed a syndicate which has been actively involved in smuggling contraband cigarettes.
The department’s director Datuk Sharifah Halimah Tuanku Taha said the seized contraband cigarettes were meant for distribution in the state.
She said the department’s enforcement unit had conducted the raid at the port following a public tip-off.
“We were informed that two containers coming from Vietnam have been falsely declared to contain ‘dried rice noodles’ in their import’s manifest. The containers were brought into the state through Bintulu Port before being transferred to a ship destined for Miri.
“Upon getting the public tip-off, we immediately deployed our Bintulu and Miri enforcement teams to immediately go and carry out a thorough inspection on the containers at the port,” she added.
“The seized items including duties and taxes are estimated to worth RM8.6 million,” she said.
Halimah said the case would be investigated under Section135 of the Customs Act, 1967.
The offender could be fined not less than 10 times the value of the duty or tax or RM100,000, whichever is higher and not more than 20 times the value of the duty or tax or RM500,000 whichever is higher.
