KUALA LUMPUR: Close to 100 million cigarettes and 228,000 litres of alcoholic drinks have been confiscated by the Customs Department in the first two months of 2019.
These were from a record 325 cases of smuggling and selling of contraband cigarettes and alcoholic beverages, according to Customs director-general Datuk Seri Subromaniam Tholasy.
Subromaniam attributed the success to more stringent enforcement of the law.
The total haul was valued at RM100 million, he told a press conference today.
Of the 325 cases, 148 people have been brought to court and 74 of them have pleaded guilty.
The Customs Act 1967 and Excise Act 1976, amended last year to give them more bite, came into force on Jan 2. With the amendments, offenders can now be fined up to RM100,000 or jailed for up to five years or both, up from a RM1,000 fine or a day’s jail.
In addition, forwarding agents will have their licences revoked under a new policy introduced this month. Five agents have already lost their licences since the policy came into force, one of whom was involved in smuggling cigarettes.
Subromaniam said the new policy was aimed at curbing smuggling activities, especially those that involved cigarettes, liquors, plastic waste, tiles and tyres.
Previously, errant forwarding agents only faced a six-month suspension.
“Now, we don’t even have to take them to court because licences for forwarding agents are under our purview,” he pointed out.
He added that the Customs Department would intensify raids in the coming months.
Subromaniam said that with the stiffer penalties, the country should see a 27% increase in tax and duties collection for cigarettes and liquors — from RM5.5 billion in 2018 to RM7 billion this year.
“In the first two months of this year alone, we have collected 30% more in duties than we did in the same period last year just from alcoholic drinks,” he said.
However, he added, the successes achieved in stamping out the smuggling of cigarettes was “not yet visible”. He said tax and duties collection on cigarettes also rose but not by as much as for liquors. Nonetheless, a rise is expected in the coming months.
On the case of the Malaysian who has been jailed for five years in Australia for smuggling more than six million cigarettes into the country, Subromaniam said the Customs Department was working together with the Australian Border Force to obtain more details on the matter.
“This is an international syndicate involving a Malaysian. I can’t divulge more information,” he added.
The Australian authorities said on Feb 23 that the cigarettes, concealed in “sophisticated cover loads”, originated from Malaysia. The duty payable on the consignment was more than US$2.86 million (RM11.62).
