Former Sarawak police chief calls for the use of SOSMA and AMLA against cigarette kingpins

File photo of senior police officers with seized illegal cigarettes valued at RM1.6mil. Illegal cigarette smuggling kingpins have used Malaysia to lose RM5bil in uncollected tax revenue every year.

IT IS now more critical than ever to classify illegal cigarette smuggling as an organised crime that falls under the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012 (SOSMA) and utilise the Anti-Money Laundering Act 2001 (AMLA) to take down its perpetrators, said former Sarawak police chief Datuk Dr Yusoff Nook.

He said that following a series of exposé by the media and confirmation from law enforcement agencies of illegal cigarette smuggling, kingpins have caused Malaysia to lose RM5bil in uncollected tax revenue every year.