POLICE SEIZE ABOUT RM2.6 MILLION WORTH OF SMUGGLED CIGARETTES IN TWO RAIDS

KOTA BHARU, March 13 (Bernama) -- Police crippled a smuggling operation involving untaxed cigarettes with seizures valued at an estimated RM2.6 million in two separate operations in Kuala Krai and Tanah Merah on Tuesday (March 10).

Kelantan police chief Datuk Mohd Yusoff Mamat said that in the first raid at 9.30 am, a task force detained a lorry on Jalan Kuala Krai-Gua Musang.

"Upon inspecting the rear cargo area of ​​the lorry, police found a pile of boxes wrapped in sacks believed to contain untaxed cigarettes of various brands,” he said in a statement today.

He said 300 boxes of cigarettes, containing about 3,056,000 cigarettes worth an estimated RM2,688,432, were seized, and the lorry driver, in his 50s, was detained to assist in investigations.

Meanwhile, in a separate operation at about 2 pm on the same day in Tanah Merah, a team from the Kelantan Police Headquarters Criminal Investigation Department's Special Investigation Branch (D9) raided a house and arrested a man.

"Upon inspecting the store behind the house, police found two boxes of untaxed U2 brand cigarettes, with one box containing 50 cartons of cigarettes. Police also seized two mobile phones along with the SIM cards, taking the overall value of the seizures to about RM7,000,” he said.

Mohd Yusoff said all the seized items from the two cases would be sent to the Department of Chemistry Malaysia, and that the cases are being investigated under Section 135(1)(e) of the Customs Act 1967 for possessing and handling untaxed goods, and Section 135(1)(d) of the same act for storing or concealing untaxed goods or goods prohibited from import.

-- BERNAMA