KUALA LUMPUR: The Customs Department aims to reduce by 30% the RM1.84bil yearly loss in taxes on cigarettes and liquor due to smuggling.
Customs deputy director-general Datuk Matrang Suhaili said that 32.8% of cigarettes sold here were contraband.
“To put that into perspective, three out of every 10 packs sold are illicit cigarettes,” he told newsmen at the launch of the Ops Pacak command centre yesterday in Taman Greenwood, Gombak.
Ops Pacak is a joint operation between the Customs Department and other enforcement agencies to crack down on the distribution and sale of smuggled cigarettes and booze.
Matrang said the command centre would be operational for two weeks and enforcement action would be targeted at hot spots in Selayang, Gombak and Puchong.
He said that of the RM35.2bil in Customs taxes collected last year, 10.28% (RM3.62bil) came from cigarette taxes.
While contraband cigarettes were cheaper, he cautioned that the contents were not regulated.
“These cigarettes can contain harmful chemicals such as arsenic and cadmium and also higher levels of nicotine,” he said.
Matrang said the joint operations against contraband cigarettes and liquor would involve the local councils, the Domestic Trade, Co-operatives and Consumerism Ministry, the police and the Immigration Department.
He added that Ops Pacak was separate from Ops Outlet, another operation by the Customs Department under which 39,442 outlets were checked for illicit cigarettes last year.
“We seized RM81.96mil worth of contraband cigarettes under Ops Outlet and 2,110 cases were brought to court,” he said.
He appealed to those with information on activities involving the sale and distribution of such contraband to come forward.
