MIRI: Six containers with contraband cigarettes with a street value of RM33mil were seized from a cargo vessel here. The seizure is worth RM4.8mil in unpaid taxes.
Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) believed a high profile smuggling syndicate of local masterminds with international connections is behind the contraband.
Its Sarawak director Ismaili Bujang Pit told a press conference the smuggling operations was detected about 3.5 nautical miles off Miri last Tuesday.
"The ship has six large containers on board. The ship operator is a Sarawakian. The ship is registered in Sibu but the five crew are Myanmars.
"They have no permits for the cigarettes," he said.
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