MALACCA: Contraband cigarettes worth RM60.89 million, including tax, were seized by the Marine Police last year, an increase of 115% from the seizure in 2018, which was RM28.36 million.
Bukit Aman Marine Police commander SAC Mohd Yusoff Mamat said 27 individuals were arrested last year for cigarette smuggling, up from 13 people in 2018.
“The government lost between RM5 billion and RM12 billion a year due to cigarette smuggling and because of that, we will intensify efforts to curb smuggling including of cigarettes, liquor, firecrackers and others,” he told a press conference on the arrest and cigarette seizures under the Customs Act 1967 at the Customs, Immigration, and Quarantine Complex, here today.
Mohd Yusoff said the Tampoi and Muar Region Two Marine Police Force seized 70,000 packets of John JGI white cigarettes worth RM1.6 million, including tax, from two lorries, in a special operation in Taman Tanjong Minyak Jaya here early today.
A 50-year-old man, who was at the wheel of one of the lorries was arrested, while the driver of the other lorry managed to escape, he added.
He said the contraband cigarettes were believed to have been smuggled into the country through the east coast states. - Bernama
