KOTA KINABALU: Smuggled beer worth over RM1.13mil was seized from the Sepanggar Port in a series of raids near here recently.
These items were confiscated in three operations between Aug 11 and 17.
State Customs assistant head director Cheong Yu Min said in the first raid, officials had noticed something amiss when checking on a container going through the scanning machine at around 9.45am, on Aug 11.
“Upon inspection, we found a total of 18,236 litres of suspected untaxed alcohol worth around RM284,139.95,” he said in a press conference here yesterday.
He said the following confiscations were made after similar checks, with customs officials seizing two containers filled with almost RM595,000 worth of alcohol at 9.05am on Aug 16, and a total of 16,632 litres of alcohol worth around RM257,863 at 11.10am on Aug 17.
“The total worth of seizures from these four containers was estimated to be around RM1,136,413.”
Cheong said these items were declared as important goods for sale here to avoid detection, adding that investigations are ongoing under the Customs Act 1967.
The public can contact the Customs Department’s toll-free number at 1-800-88-8855 or go to any of their offices to provide information on any suspected crime.
