PENANG CUSTOMS UNCOVERS SECRET ROOM HIDING TWO MILLION SMUGGLED CIGARETTES

BUTTERWORTH, Oct 30 (Bernama) -- A syndicate's ruse of using a hidden room in a house in Permatang Pauh to store nearly two million sticks of smuggled white cigarettes and kretek has been uncovered by the Royal Malaysian Customs Department.

Penang Customs director Rohaizad Ali said its Enforcement Division Operations Unit raided the house at 1 pm on Oct 8 and seized the cigarettes, valued at RM581,254 with taxes amounting to RM1.37 million.

"Acting on information, we monitored the double-storey terrace house for a week as we suspected it was linked to activities on the sale of smuggled cigarettes.

"Before the raid, we conducted two hours of surveillance on the house and found no one present. During the initial inspection, the customs team did not find any items, and the premises also appeared unoccupied," he said at a press conference here today.

He added that upon further inspection, the operations team discovered a hidden room concealed by a custom-made cabinet specially designed to hide smuggled cigarettes.

Rohaizad said the room contained 1.54 million white cigarettes and 450,120 kretek cigarettes of various brands.

It is believed that the kretek cigarettes were brought in from Indonesia, while the white cigarettes came from another neighbouring country.

During the customs inspection of the house, a 70-year-old man arrived at the premises, claiming he had rented out the house to a foreign man for the past two years.

"The customs team uncovered the hidden room after two hours of inspection, noticing that while the room appeared spacious from the outside, it was much smaller inside. A thorough check of the cabinet led to the discovery of the hidden room,” he added.

They have recorded the house owner's statement and are tracing the tenant.

“We believe the house was used as a storage facility for the smuggled cigarettes meant for distribution throughout the state," he said.

-- BERNAMA