KOTA KINABALU: A shipping container owner’s refusal to declare the items shipped and stored at the Sepanggar Port near here, resulted in over 348 tonnes of frozen food worth over RM3.42mil being confiscated.
This follows a raid by the Malaysian Border Control and Protection Agency (AKPS) on 12 containers after the owner was given 30 days to declare the contents inside, said AKPS director-general Datuk Seri Mohd Shuhaily Mohd Zain during a press conference, Friday (Aug 7).
He said port officials allocated 30 days for the owner to come forward and provide them details of the containers, and for the person, who is yet to be identified, to declare what was inside following an earlier operation.
“However, the items were not inspected during the first raid to allow the owner to come forward and provide proper declaration but he failed to do so. Inspections were done on the 12 containers in a second raid on July 16, after the deadline,” he said.
Upon inspection, officials found packets of frozen chicken in 11 of the containers while frozen pork were found in the other one, Shuhaily said, adding that all items weighed around 348,000kg and were worth around RM3.42mil.
They believe the frozen food was imported from China and Hong Kong, he said, explaining that there is no permit issued for frozen food items from both countries.
He said there were also elements of inaccurate declaration as part of the containers were marked as frozen food or vegetables, when in fact they were frozen meat.
Shuhaily said this is not just a matter of failure to declare the items but there were elements of cheating through false declarations.
“No one has turned up to claim these 12 containers and therefore, we are still trying to find out who the real owner is,” he said, believing that all the goods were for local sales and consumption.
He also said there were dubious Halal certifications allegedly from Thailand and Malaysia stamped on the boxes of frozen food, when in fact the shipment did not even pass through Thailand.
Shuhaily said this case is being investigated under the Customs Act 1967 for failing to make complete and correct declarations and for allegedly presenting documents with false information.
“If convicted, the offender could be fined up to RM500,000 or jailed up to five years, or both,” he said.
He said investigators are checking if there are agents or other parties involved in this case, before prosecution proceeds.
On other matters, Shuhaily said the AKPS had seized almost 40 shipping containers worth over RM6.7mil following a series of operations in Sabah.
He said the AKPS would continue strengthening its enforcement nationwide by working with agencies such as the Customs Department, Health Department, Sabah Veterinary Services Department and port authorities to curb import of illegal food products.
