MUAR: A 54-year-old man was arrested for possessing illegal cigarettes worth RM1.2mil during a raid on a house in Naib Kadir, Bukit Pasir here.
Muar OCPD Asst Comm Raiz Mukhliz Azman Aziz said the raid was conducted at 2.30pm on Friday (April 14) by the General Operations Force together with a team from the Muar district police headquarters under "Ops Kontraban".
"The suspect was busy arranging the boxes of cigarettes inside the house when the raid was conducted.
"During inspection 5,553 cartons of white cigarettes and 395 cartons of kretek cigarettes of various brands were found.
"The cigarettes are worth RM420,000, with unpaid taxes of about RM800,000," he said in a statement on Monday (April 17).
Police believe the suspect transported and distributed the contraband around Muar.
"Supplies usually come from a third party and their modus operandi is to get the items from unfixed locations to be stored and distributed locally.
"They keep changing locations to avoid being traced by the police," he said, adding that the suspect had no criminal record and was believed to have been active for about a year.
ACP Raiz Mukhliz said police believe the contraband came from a large syndicate operating outside Muar.
"The suspect also tested negative for drugs and we confiscated the tenancy agreement on the house which he signed two months ago.
"This is the largest contraband seizure we have made this year," he said, adding that he welcomed information on any suspicious activities from the public.
The suspect has been remanded for seven days from Saturday (April 15) and the case is being investigated under Section 135(1)(d) of the Customs Act 1967 for the possession or sale of smuggled cigarettes.
