MMEA foils cigarette smuggling attempt

JOHOR BARU: The Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) foiled an attempt to smuggle 880 cartons of various brands of cigarettes valued at RM100,000, off Sungai Ayam, Batu Pahat, last night.
Batu Pahat MMEA chief, Lieut Commander Muhammad Zulkarnain Abdullah said a team was patrolling at 0.5 nautical miles off Sungai Ayam they spotted two men in a fibreglass boat at about 10pm.
"Our patrol team spotted the two suspects unloading stuff into another boat and we tried to approach and apprehend them but but they realised the presence of the personnel.
"We trailed the boat up to the mangrove swamp nearby but both of them jumped into the sea and managed to escape," he said in a statement here today.
On inspecting the boat, they found nine sacks and five boxes containing different types of cigarettes.