Ops Samba 2.0: Twenty-three Customs officers, personnel to be charged, says MACC

PUTRAJAYA: A total of 23 Royal Malaysian Customs Department officers and personnel will be charged under Section 17 (a) of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Act 2009 and Section 165 of the Penal Code, in six separate Sessions Courts nationwide, until June 6.

The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) said that, thus far, two Customs officers have been charged in court, after being arrested through operations dubbed Ops Samba 2.0.

Ops Samba 2.0, conducted from March 11 to 25, focused on investigations into members and officers of the Customs Department who were on duty at the cargo section of the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA), Sepang, which detected the leakage of tax revenue as much as RM2bil, MACC said in a statement.

"This is a huge loss of the country’s revenue, and will have a continuous negative impact on the national economy if not curbed,” it said.

In the operation, MACC arrested 34 officers and personnel, along with 27 individuals and company owners, and the investigation found that they conspired with a syndicate smuggling, importing and selling contraband cigarettes and liquor.

Following the arrest, the MACC’s Anti-Money Laundering (AML) Division seized mobile phones, laptops and eight luxury vehicles belonging to the syndicate, to facilitate the investigation.

The commission has also frozen a total of 231 bank accounts belonging to companies and individuals, including mule accounts, totalling RM18mil.

Ops Samba 2.0 is an operation led by the MACC, together with the Inland Revenue Board (LHDN) and Bank Negara Malaysia, to combat the corrupt activities of enforcement agency officers who protect smuggling activities, since 2017.- Bernama