BUTTERWORTH: Attempts to bring in contraband by passing them off as furniture items and pre-loved attire were busted in two raids by the Customs Department recently, with unpaid duties totalling about RM5.5mil.
In the first case, the cargo was declared as furniture items but when the container was opened, Customs officers found 52,790 cans of imported beer.
“That is 26,395 litres of alcoholic beverages with unpaid duties amounting to RM917,083.20,” said Penang Customs Department director Rohaizad Ali.
The contraband beer was discovered on Dec 12 at North Port in Port Klang and the beer has now been moved to the Bagan Jermal Enforcement Storage Facility in Penang.
Rohaizad said the beer had come from an East Asian country and was classified as Prohibited Import Goods and are subject to Item 3, Third Schedule, Part II of the Customs Order (Prohibition on Import) 2023.
The case is being investigated under Section 135 (1) (a) of the Customs Act 1967 and Section 74(1)(e) of the Excise Act 1976.
On Dec 26, in another operation, Customs opened a container and found 4.5 million cigarette sticks estimated to be worth RM1.37mil, with unpaid duties amounting to RM4.48mil, Rohaizad revealed.“The contraband items were found hidden with 175 cartons of pre-loved clothing.
“Almost half of the container was filled with the cigarettes, and the cartons of pre-loved clothing were stacked at the door-end of the container, meant to hide the contraband,” he added.
Investigations showed that the cigarettes were a transhipment from a South-East Asian country heading towards another South-East Asian nation.
He said the case is being investigated under Section 135 (1) (a) of the Customs Act 1967.
No arrests were made during both raids.
Rohaizad urged the public to cooperate by providing information on smuggling activities by contacting the Customs Toll-Free Line at 1-800-88-8855 or the nearest Customs Office.
