Kelantan customs foil attempt to smuggle in RM2mil worth of cigarettes

KOTA BARU: The Kelantan Customs Department has foiled up an attempt to smuggle cigarettes worth almost RM2mi, including unpaid taxes, in an operation in Jalan Kuala Kemasin, Bachok on Tuesday (July 11).

Its director Wan Jamal Abdul Salam Wan Long said the activity was exposed by the East Zone Risk Branch of the Kota Baru enforcement division.

He said a subsequent search carried out at 1am last Tuesday found a five-tonne lorry abandoned on the roadside in Jalan Kuala Kemasin.

"An inspection of the lorry revealed as many as 2,500,000 branded cigarettes which we suspect were smuggled in by sea.

"The cigarettes are estimated to be worth RM208,000 in the local market while the total tax involved was as much as RM1,736,800," he said at the JKDM office here on Sunday (July 16).

Wan Jamal Abdul Salam said they were still investigating the case to track down the owner of the lorry and the abandoned contraband.

"All the cigarettes are suspected to be brought from Vietnam and we are not ruling out the possibility of foreign fishermen being involved in the activity, but so far we have no clear information.

"Based on the quantity, it is likely that they were meant to be sold in the Klang Valley," he said.

He said the case is investigated under Section 135(1)(d) of the Customs Act 1967. – Bernama