KLANG: Being equipped with a 1,200 horsepower speedboat does not guarantee you can smuggle cigarettes into the country successfully.
This was proven when the Selangor Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) detected a smuggling syndicate’s high-powered speedboat in Malaysian waters on Wednesday morning and intercepted them while they were unloading the cigarettes near Tanjung Sepat, Banting.
The speedboat only managed to offload 70% of the cigarettes onboard before they fled to Indonesia.
Selangor MMEA director Maritime Captain Siva Kumar Vengadasalam said they were alerted to the smuggling attempt when the MMEA sea monitoring system radar detected a suspicious vessel moving near Tanjung Gabang at around 6am on Wednesday.
“We deployed our vessel to the area to investigate and they spotted a high-powered speedboat believed to be carrying illicit cigarettes.
“When they noticed the MMEA vessel, they immediately sped towards the waters of a neighbouring country,” he said at the Selangor MMEA headquarters yesterday.
According to Siva Kumar, intelligence gathered by the MMEA then led personnel on a land near the Batu Laut beach in Tanjung Sepat.
“They found two abandoned lorries with 84,700 boxes of cigarettes inside.
“The drivers of the vehicles were believed to have fled the scene when they realised that our vessel was approaching the beach,” he said.
Siva Kumar said the cigarettes, which were believed to be smuggled from Indonesia, were worth over RM1mil with unpaid duties.
“The syndicate was using a speedboat equipped with six engines capable of 1,200 horsepower and could reach a top speed of up to 70 knots (129kph).
“We believe this beach is a popular spot for smugglers to offload illicit items,” he said, adding that the smugglers were believed to hail from Pulau Rupat, Indonesia.
“We are now working to track down the lorry drivers. The case is being investigated under the Customs Act.”
Those with information on crimes or emergencies at sea should contact the MMEA Selangor operations centre at 03-3176 0627 or MERS 999.
