Illicit cigarettes, liquor worth RM2.67mil seized in Penang
State Customs director Rohaizad Ali said the first seizure involved 1.32 million sticks of white cigarettes and kretek found in a parked lorry at a residential area in Bukit Mertajam on May 6.
He said officers from the Enforcement Department's Operations Unit inspected the vehicle and discovered the cigarettes, believed to be untaxed, stored in its cargo hold.
He said the lorry was abandoned with its keys inside, a suspected modus operandi to avoid detection by authorities.
"The total value of the seized goods is estimated at RM431,504, with duties and taxes amounting to around RM1.35 million.
"The cigarettes are believed to have been brought in from a neighbouring country," he told newsmen here today.
Rohaizad said two men, a lorry driver and co-driver in their 20s and 30s, who were nearby at the time of the raid, were nabbed to assist in the investigation.
The case is being investigated under Section 135(1)(d) of the Customs Act 1967, which provides for a fine of not less than 10 times the value of the goods or RM100,000, whichever is higher, and not more than 20 times the value or RM500,000, or imprisonment of between six months and five years, or both, upon conviction.
In the second case on May 9, Customs officers raided a house in a residential neighbourhood here, where they seized a large quantity of liquor and beer believed to be untaxed.
"The seizure involved 15,288 cans of beer and 13,820 bottles of liquor, with an estimated value of RM236,737.20, and total duties and taxes estimated at RM663,027.03," he added.
The items are believed to have been temporarily stored at the premises before being distributed to the local market.
The case is also being investigated under the same provision of the Customs Act 1967.
Rohaizad stressed that both cigarettes and liquor are classified as prohibited import items under the Customs (Prohibition of Imports) Order 2023, and firm action would continue to be taken against all parties involved.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
New Straits Times
29 minutes ago
- New Straits Times
Family wins suit over suicide in MMEA custody, govt to pay RM194,170
KUALA LUMPUR: The High Court has ordered the government to pay RM194,170 to the family of a man who hanged himself in a Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) lockup, ruling that his death was caused by serious negligence while in custody. Judge Datuk Alice Loke Yee Ching found that officers failed to take reasonable steps to prevent the suicide of M. Thinagaran while he was on remand for a drug trafficking investigation. The court allowed the negligence claim filed by the deceased's wife, R. Tenaswari, and father, K. Madhavan, who sued the government and two MMEA officers, as co-administrators of Thinagaran's estate. Loke said authorities created the very conditions that enabled Thinagaran to end his life. "The deceased hung the extra pair of pants from a grill on the ceiling, which had been installed after a previous escape by a detainee. "Unfortunately, the grill and the pants became the very means for the deceased to harm himself. "There was no reason to have provided the deceased with the extra pair of pants. "The presence of the grill ought to have raised a red flag. "The defendants obviously overlooked this and should have taken steps to avoid exposing the deceased to danger," she said in her written judgment dated July 28. She said there was a clear breach of duty as the deceased was given an extra pair of trousers in a lockup with a ceiling grill, where the risk of suicide among detainees was foreseeable. The court also found that the MMEA lockup in Klang was not a gazetted detention facility and that its closed-circuit television (CCTV) system was only monitored once every hour. "Monitoring at hourly intervals defeats the purpose of having CCTV. "It is meant for continuous monitoring. Had there not been a lapse in monitoring, the suicide could have been prevented. "The lack of closer monitoring caused the officers on duty to miss the entire series of actions taken by the deceased just prior to his suicide," the judge said. The court dismissed the government's defence that Thinagaran's death was unforeseeable or that his act of suicide broke the chain of causation. "His death was the very event their duty was directed at. "It is therefore not open to the defendants to contend that the actions of the deceased broke the chain of causation. "Persons in custody are susceptible to mental stress. "They are vulnerable to depression, and hence suicidal impulses are not unforeseeable." The court also rejected the argument that Thinagaran was contributorily negligent, saying he was under immense psychological pressure from facing a capital offence and that it would be unfair to blame him for his own death. The court awarded RM6,370 in special damages, RM5,000 for funeral expenses, RM10,000 for bereavement, and RM172,800 for loss of earnings. "It also awarded RM30,000 in costs to the plaintiffs. Lawyer M. Manoharan appeared for the plaintiffs, while senior federal counsel Siti Syakimah Ibrahim represented the defendants.
The Star
2 hours ago
- The Star
S'pore cop among trio held over illegal exit attempt
JOHOR BARU: A Singaporean police officer and two other foreign motorcyclists have been arrested for attempting to leave Malaysia illegally through a major land checkpoint in separate incidents. All three men, in their 20s and 30s, were detained by the Immigration Department several days ago and are now under remand as investigations continue. In the first case, the Singaporean police officer allegedly entered Johor Baru without having his passport stamped. He was caught while trying to exit the country, claiming he had taken a wrong route. However, investigations suggested that he had entered using an unmanned motorcycle lane at the Bangunan Sultan Iskandar Customs, Immigration and Quarantine (BSI) complex. The second incident involved two men, a Singaporean and an Indian national, who were also riding a motorcycle. Both were stopped after checks revealed that they had no entry records in the system. Security officials confirmed that all three are being investigated under Section 6(1)(C) of the Immigration Act for entering the country without valid documentation. If convicted, they face up to RM10,000 in fines, a maximum of five years' jail, and up to six strokes of the cane. An official said foreigners must understand that it is an offence to enter or exit Malaysia without presenting their passports. Police reports have been filed in connection with both incidents, a police source confirmed. In previous cases, local motorcyclists rushing to work have also faced stiff penalties for failing to scan their passports. Some were even caught forcefully opening lane barriers at the BSI checkpoint during peak hours. The official issued a stern warning to the thousands of motorcyclists using the land routes between Malaysia and Singapore not to resort to shortcuts. The Immigration Department has also carried out special operations to clamp down on Malaysians and Singaporeans attempting to bypass passport checks at both BSI and the Second Link.
The Star
12 hours ago
- The Star
Two more cops detained for allegedly taking bribes to allow illegal gambling
JOHOR BARU: Two more policemen have been detained by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) for allegedly accepting bribes totalling over RM630,000 in exchange for not taking action against illegal gambling activities. Both suspects, in their 30s, were arrested at around 9pm on Wednesday (July 30) after giving their statements at the Johor MACC office.
