JOHOR BARU: The biggest haul of the year, the Johor Customs Department seized 104,400 cartons of contraband cigarettes worth RM12.16mil (S$3.9 million), including unpaid duties and taxes.
With the seizure, the department foiled attempts by two suspected syndicates trying to smuggle in the cigarettes from China via two ports in Johor.
State Customs director Datuk Ramli Johari said in the first case, enforcement officers inspected a 40-foot container at Johor Port in Pasir Gudang at around 4pm on Oct 19.
He said that in the goods declaration forms, the container was declared as carrying 224 boxes of self-adhesive jumbo rolls for industrial usage.
“Our men found 52,500 cartons of contraband cigarettes of various brands worth RM6.01mil, including unpaid duties and taxes,” Ramli said here yesterday.
He said following a tip-off, the officers inspected another container at the Port of Tanjung Pelepas in Gelang Patah at around 10am on Oct 30.
The shipping agent, said Ramli, had declared the container to contain joss sticks, but instead it had 51,900 cartons of contraband cigarettes worth RM6.15mil, including unpaid duties.
He said both containers originated from Singapore, adding that the contraband cigarettes were for the local market.
“We have detained two shipping agents – men in their 20s and 40s – to help in the investigation,” said Ramli.
The cases are being investigated under Section 133(1)(a) of the Customs Act 1967 and Section 26(1) of the Free Trade Zone Act 1990.
He said that in the first 10 months of the year, the state Customs Department had foiled 187 smuggling attempts of contraband cigarettes, with seizures worth over RM6.84mil and taxes valued at more than RM50.70mil.
Anyone with information on smuggling can call the Customs hotline at 1800 888 855.
