DESARU: Pengerang marine police foiled an attempt to smuggle contraband cigarettes by sea and by land here the other day at 2.30am and 4am respectively. In the 2.30am incident, a total of 38,400 packs of contraband cigarettes worth RM370,611, inclusive of tax, was seized from a boat in the waters of Desaru, Bandar Penawar.
Southern Region Marine Police commander Assistant Commissioner Paul Khiu said the total seizure from the two separate raids was RM460,000 including the car, boat and engine which were seized with the raid. Khiu said cigarettes of various brands were seized in the 2.30am raid on Friday.
“An enforcement team was patrolling the area when they spotted a boat in the Desaru waters in Bandar Penawar, behaving in a suspcious manner. “The team ordered the boat to stop but the boat picked up speed instead.
The patrol boat gave chase, and managed to stop the boat when it landed by the shore near the Kompleks Sukan Air dan Udara (Pulau Hijau) Bandar Penawar,” he said. Khiu also said that two men were seen jumping into the sea and swimming into the forest. “Checks on the 200 horsepowered boat revealed that the contraband cigarettes were stashed in black plastic bags. There was a total of 23,700 plastic bags.
“The items seized have been brought back to the Pengerang marine police station,” he added. Meanwhile, at 4am on the same day, another patrol team on land spotted several people putting things into a Mercedes Benz Elegance E320. “The suspects also ran into the forest when they spotted the patrol team. There were 14,700 bags of cigarettes of various brands.
