JOHOR BARU: A total of 70,000 electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) and e-cigarette liquid worth close to one million ringgit were seized by the Customs Department during a raid in Kuala Lumpur.
Johor Customs Department director Aminul Izmeer Mohd Sohaimi said the items were seized by the department's operations and marine unit at a warehouse located in the Ampang Industrial Area.
“The raid was conducted at 2pm on May 14 at an unoccupied warehouse; an inspection found 70,000 e-cigarette devices and liquids of various brands believed to be untaxed.
“All of the seized items are worth RM805,200, while the tax is estimated at around RM166,742,” he said at a press conference at Menara Kastam Johor here on Monday (May 27).
Aminul Izmeer added that the raid was conducted after two weeks of surveillance and investigations.
“We believed that the items were meant to be sold in the Kuala Lumpur market, and we are currently trying to find out who is the owner of the premises,” he said.
He added that the items are believed to belong to a syndicate, and the group is using the warehouse in the industrial area as a storage facility before distributing the items.
The case is being investigated under Section 135(1)(d) of the Customs Act 1967 for smuggling untaxed goods, which carries a fine of not less than 10 times the value of the goods or RM100,000, whichever is higher.
