SEPANG: Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) Customs foiled four smuggling cases last month, seizing 1.53 million cigarette sticks and 60.47 kg of cannabis buds worth more than RM6.17mil, including duties and taxes.
Its director Aspalila Ag Tuah said two of the cases involved cigarette smuggling at the KLIA Free Commercial Zone, while the other two involved cannabis buds, including 47.8 kg of the drug worth RM3.824mil that was found in two pieces of luggage abandoned at the Lost and Found office in the International Arrival Hall of KLIA Terminal 1.
She said the two pieces of luggage had been booked for a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Langkawi on July 14 but were abandoned by the passengers.
"A scan of the luggage revealed suspicious images, and further inspection uncovered airtight plastic packets believed to contain cannabis buds.
"The airline was called in to assist in tracing the owners of the luggage," she told a press conference here on Thursday (Aug 13).
Aspalila said in another drug case on July 13, the department seized 12.675 kg of cannabis buds worth RM1.014mil that had been concealed in children's toy boxes.
She said the drugs were found in four packages at the KLIA Customs mail and courier centre and were believed to have been destined for export to a European country via cargo services.
"The syndicate concealed the cannabis in airtight plastic packaging before placing it inside children's toy boxes to evade detection by the authorities," she said.
She said both drug cases were being investigated under the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952.
Meanwhile, Aspalila said KLIA Customs also foiled two attempts to smuggle a total of 1.53 million cigarette sticks on July 29 and 30, with the cigarettes, duties and taxes valued at about RM1.35mil.
In the first case, she said an inspection of a warehouse at the KLIA Free Commercial Zone on July 29 uncovered 410,000 cigarettes suspected to have been brought in without payment of customs duty under an air waybill from a West Asian country.
Aspalila said the cigarettes were worth about RM102,000, with duties and taxes amounting to RM290,152.
"The consignment was declared as clothing to mislead the authorities and circumvent the requirement for an import permit," she added.
The following day, she said the department found 1.12 million cigarettes worth RM168,000, with duties and taxes amounting to RM786,400, in a warehouse in the same zone.
She said the cigarettes had arrived from an Asian country for transit and were believed to have been destined for a country in Oceania.
"This time, the consignment was declared as slippers to evade detection by the authorities," she said, adding that the companies handling the shipments in both cases had been called in to assist in the investigations. – Bernama
