Customs dept to crackdown on illegal cigarettes

PENAGA: The Customs Department will launch an "Ops PACAK" next year to go aggressive against the smuggling in of contraband cigarettes.
The launch also comes in the wake of the department having seized 20.63 million illegal cigarette sticks with a tax value of RM10.33million in an anti-smuggling operations in 2013.
Customs Department Deputy Director General (Enforcement and Compliance) Datuk Matrang Suhaili said this was the highest amount of such seized contraband in the country.
He said smuggled cigarettes deprived the country of RM1.9billion in tax revenue and urged public cooperation to put a stop to such activities.
"This shows how serous the problem is," he said at a press conference after attending a community service program here today.
The community service included a gotong-royong to clean up the surrounding areas and briefing on the Goods and Services Tax (GST).
In his speech earlier, Matrang said tax collection on cigarettes was the second highest source of revenue for Customs after vehicle duties.
He urged the public to refrain from purchasing contraband cigarettes as it was illegal and possibly dangerous due to high levels of nicotine.