Marine cops foil attempt to smuggle face masks into Sabah from Indonesia

KOTA KINABALU: Marine police have seized a shipment of face masks that were being smuggled into Tawau, Sabah, from Indonesia.

Sabah marine police commander Asst Comm Mohamad Pajeri said they had seized six boxes of masks worth about RM4,800.

He said that a patrol team intercepted a passenger boat at Sungai Haji Kuning in Tawau at about 2.30pm on Wednesday (Feb 5).

He said the boat skipper, a 40-year-old Indonesian man, was detained in connection with the seizure during the operations codenamed Ops Gelora.

He said that the skipper, when questioned, said that the face masks belonged to a Malaysian but failed to provide any documents or permits to bring them in.

ACP Pajeri said it was an offence to import any goods without the permit of the Customs Department under the Customs Act 1967.

Many shops in Sabah have run out of face mask stocks over the last few weeks amid high worldwide demand due to the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) outbreak.