BUTTERWORTH: The Penang Customs Department seized RM2.5mil worth of contraband cigarettes and alcohol in three separate operations in Kedah and Penang recently.
State Customs director Hasbullah Din said in the first raid on July 10, enforcement officers raided and inspected a house in Kulim, believed to have been used as a storage facility for contraband goods.
"Acting on intelligence, officers raided the shop premises at 2pm.
"The inspection found 205,880 sticks of cigarettes of various brands, believed to be duty-unpaid, kept in the house," he said during a press conference at the state Customs Complex in Perai, here on Tuesday (Aug 18).
He added that during the inspection, officers also found 12,464.20 litre of alcoholic drinks of various brands.
Hasbullah said the value of the seized contraband, including duties and taxes, was RM1,286,644.63.
He said investigations found that illicit cigarettes and liquor were concealed inside an unoccupied premises, believed to be an attempt to evade the authorities.
The items were believed to have been intended for distribution on the local market.
In the second operation, acting on information from the public, Customs enforcement officers raided and inspected an unoccupied house in Bukit Mertajam, at about 3.30pm on July 10.
He said during the inspection, the team discovered 31,480 sticks of cigarettes and 5,945.30 litre of alcoholic beverages of various brands, suspected to be prohibited goods, stored inside the house.
"All seized items were confiscated for further investigation. The total value of the seizure, including duties and taxes, was RM398,449.55,"he said.
He said the items were believed to have been intended for distribution on the local market.
In the third operation, officers raided a house at Sungai Jawi on July 31 at about 6.50pm.
Inspection found stashes of boxes that contained 777,400 sticks of cigarettes in the premises.
"We also detained a man in his 40s to help in the investigations," he added.
He said the department was still investigating whether all three cases were connected and carried out by the same syndicate.
He said the cases were being investigated under Section 135(1)(d) of the Customs Act 1967 for possession of uncustomed or prohibited goods.
"If convicted, offenders may be fined not less than 10 times the value of the goods or RM100,000, whichever is higher, and not more than 20 times the value of the goods or RM500,000, whichever is higher, or jailed for between six months and five years, or both," he said.
He said the cigarettes and liquor were classified as prohibited imports under the Customs (Prohibition of Imports) Order 2023.
