LABUAN: The Labuan Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) will crack down illegal border crossings into the waters here to halt smuggling of cigarettes and liquor.
Labuan MMEA Maritime Capt Che Adnan Md Isa said the huge loss in revenue has prompted the enforcement agencies, especially the MMEA to come down hard and cripple such activities.
He reiterated that the MMEA had detected several smuggling trails between Labuan and Sarawak waters, often used to smuggle contraband cigarette and liquor.
“We have increased our efforts to tackle such cases and we hope the local fishermen to continue to be the ‘eye and ear’ to disseminate information on such activities,” he said.
Che Adnan was commenting on a recent statement by the Customs Department that losses in revenue due to smuggling of cigarettes and liquor was a whopping RM1.9 billion (cigarette) and RM500 million (liquor), respectively.
“Undoubtedly, Labuan being the duty-free island is prone to smuggling. The major problem leading to the huge losses is large scale smuggling using cargo vessels but there are also other forms of illicit trade. One driving factor behind the continuation of smuggling is the increased demand and ready buyers,” he said.
Royal Customs and Excise Department Deputy Director-General (Enforcement and Compliance Division) Datuk Matrang Suhaili was reported to have said that cigarette was the second largest revenue contributor after vehicles, while tax from liquor was the fourth largest contributor with five percent of overall revenue.
Meanwhile, Che Adnan said the Labuan MMEA had succeeded in crippling large scale smuggling syndicates that used cargo vessels since the establishment of the MMEA to enforce and protect Malaysia’s maritime zone from any elements of related maritime and transborder crimes.
