KUCHING: The Kuching Civil Defence Force’s Batalion 11 has crippled an attempt to smuggle in 1,600 cartons of the cigarette ‘Ace Merah’ estimated to be worth RM304,000 in an abandoned shophouse in Batu 7 here.
The raid, which was part of Op Libas, was conducted at about 10.45am yesterday.
Commanding Officer Supt Rosdi Inai said a man believed to be a guard at the premises managed to escape after he detected the presence of the authorities.
“From the information obtained, it was believed that the cigarettes had been smuggled from a neighbouring country to be sold on the local market,” he told reporters, here today.
The case has been handed over to the Padawan District Police Headquarters for investigations under Section 135 (1) (d) of the Customs Act 1967 which provides for a fine of a minimum of 10 times the value of the goods up to 20 times the value, or imprisonment of up to three years, if found guilty.
Rosdi said this year the value of confiscated smuggled items and wood through several operations reached RM7.39 million while last year, it was RM2.25 million and in 2017, it was RM2.66 million.
“The total value of the confiscated items during operations conducted from 2017 until 2019 has reached RM12.31 million,” he said. - Bernama
