PETALING JAYA: A vape smuggling syndicate that was reportedly bribing Royal Malaysian Customs officers at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) Cargo Centre was busted on Tuesday (Jan 21).
Sinar Harian reported that the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Intelligence Division uncovered the illegal activity through Ops Airways after a three-month surveillance operation.
According to sources, 14 individuals aged 20 to 60 were arrested, including six customs officers and eight individuals, six of which were company directors.
“The arrests were made after two lorries that left the KLIA cargo inspection centre were seized. Simultaneously, a large-scale raid was conducted on two storage warehouses of the companies involved.
"The joint inspection, conducted with the Customs Department Enforcement Division, found 32,000 vape pens estimated to involve RM1.9mil in tax in the seized lorry," he said on Wednesday.
At the same time, a raid at one of the warehouses uncovered 90,000 vape pens, which are estimated to have RM5.4mil in unpaid tax. In another warehouse, officials discovered tens of thousands more vape pens, which also involve millions of ringgit in unpaid tax.
The source added that the raids have revealed a loss of about RM8mil in tax revenue for the country.
"The content of the vape pens is also feared to be harmful to the health of consumers," he said.
It is believed that all the vape pens smuggled were not declared and that no documents were recorded.
"This resembles the modus operandi of the “flying containers”. Enforcement officers on duty allegedly received thousands of ringgit for each container, bypassing scanning machines or inspections," he said.
Meanwhile, MACC Chief Commissioner Tan Sri Azam Baki when contacted by Sinar Harian, confirmed the arrest and said the case is being investigated under Sections 16 and 17 of the MACC Act 2009.
Meanwhile, six customs officers and six individuals, including four company directors, were remanded for four days, and another was remanded for five days.
Magistrate Irza Zulaikha Rohanuddin issued the remand order after an application was made by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) at the Putrajaya Magistrate's Court on Wednesday.
