SIBU: The Customs Department in Sibu has seized contraband cigarettes and undeclared liquor worth more than RM731,000 during a raid on a two-storey house.
State Customs Director Datuk Norizan Yahya said the raid took place on Dec 17 at about 4.25pm at a house in Lorong Ulu Sungai Merah 46J.
“Inspections led to the seizure of 3.43mil cigarettes and 70,518.24 litres of various brands of liquor suspected to be undeclared,” he said in a media statement on Saturday (Dec 27).
Norizan said all the items were believed to be prohibited goods under the Customs (Prohibition on Imports) Order 2023, with the total value of the seizure estimated at RM731,809.44. He added that the estimated import duties and taxes involved amounted to RM3,472,209.
He said investigations are ongoing, and the modus operandi involved using the premises as a storage facility for prohibited goods to evade detection by the authorities.
“The case is being investigated under Section 135(1)(d) of the Customs Act 1967 for storing or possessing undeclared goods or goods prohibited from import.
“If convicted, offenders may be fined not less than 10 times the amount of customs duty or RM100,000, whichever is higher, and not more than 20 times the value of the goods or RM500,000, whichever is higher, or face imprisonment of between six months and five years, or both,” he said.
Norizan also urged the public to continue cooperating with the Customs Department in combating smuggling activities involving cigarettes, liquor, firecrackers, drugs and other prohibited items.
Members of the public with information on smuggling activities may contact the Customs Toll-Free Line at 1-800-88-8855 or any nearby customs office. The department assured that informants’ identities would be kept confidential.
