PASIR MAS: The Kelantan Customs Department will set up a special team to combat the smuggling activities of cloned vehicles from Singapore that received high demand in the country, especially in Kelantan.
Its director Mohd Rakbi Mat Saud said the special team is to be set up as the department had identified modus operandi (MO) used by the syndicates to smuggle the vehicles to the state.
“This team will be tasked with monitoring and intelligence gathering as we find that there are cloned vehicles from a neighbouring country are being used in the state.
“With this team, we believe the Customs Department can combat or at least reduce the entry of cloned vehicles from Singapore to the state,” he told reporters while attending a programme at the Rantau Panjang Customs Office, here today.
Mohd Rakbi said the team was set up as the smugglers have become smarter and created new MOs to smuggle the vehicles to the state.
“The smugglers can do a lot of things and we need to set up this special team to combat their activities.
“Previously, we impounded several cloned vehicles and the MO used matched our intelligence,” he said.
He said from January until now, the Customs Department have impounded nearly 30 cloned vehicles from Singapore in the state.
“We believe there are still plenty of luxury cloned vehicles in the state due to the fact that they are cheap and still in good conditions,” he added. — Bernama
