CUSTOMS DISMANTLES SMUGGLING OPERATION WORTH OVER RM1.76 MLN

SEPANG, Sept 20 (Bernama) — The Royal Malaysian Customs Department’s Central Zone Unit III (LTAKL) successfully dismantled a smuggling operation involving various goods, with seizures valued at over RM1.76 million, including duties, in August.

Customs Central Zone Enforcement Operations director Zulkifli Muhammad revealed that on Aug 13, a raiding team discovered 84 master cases containing 500,800 sticks of white cigarettes and 63 master cases filled with old newspapers, loaded on four commercial pallets.

“A thorough inspection found that the white cigarettes entered as cargo through the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) Free Zone without a valid permit, declared as ‘Clothes & Jeans.’

“The estimated value of the seized goods is RM50,080, with duties and taxes amounting to RM335,536. Preliminary investigations revealed the white cigarettes had no documentation confirming that duties had been paid upon entry into Malaysia,” he said in a statement today.

He added that on Aug 16, daily inspections at the Cargo Terminal Operator within the Free Commercial Zone at KLIA also discovered 804,000 sticks of white cigarettes valued at RM618,800, including duties and taxes, believed to be intended for export to Australia based on the final destination address in the manifest documents.

“The syndicate’s modus operandi is to declare goods in the invoice as ‘Raincoat and Cigarette’ and use cargo delivery services to deceive the authorities,” he stated.

Regarding the shisha tobacco smuggling case on Aug 19, he clarified that the raiding team seized 3,000 kgs of undeclared shisha tobacco imported into Malaysia without a valid import permit.

This merchandise with an estimated value of RM405,000, including duties and taxes amounting to RM313,863.75 is believed to be for the local market, he added.

“This syndicate declared the goods as ‘AF Molasses’ in the manifest documents and used cargo delivery services to mislead the authorities,” he added.

On Aug 13 and 21, he noted that a team from LTAKL and the Royal Malaysia Police raided two business premises located in Kuala Lumpur as part of Ops Royal 2024.

He said inspections found 323.61 litres of suspected undeclared liquor, bearing counterfeit Customs Tax labels, in both business premises.

The estimated value of the seized goods was RM7,300, with duties amounting to RM32,200, and two Malaysian nationals in their 40s, who are also owners of the premises, were detained, he added. 

All the cases are being investigated under Section 135(1)(a) of the Customs Act 1967 for importing prohibited goods. 

— BERNAMA