KEPALA BATAS: The police arrested five men, aged 36 to 63, and seized 18.5 million smuggled white cigarettes worth RM13.87 million including taxes in two early morning raids on a warehouse and store in Tasek Gelugor, here yesterday.
Bukit Aman Internal Security and Public Order Department director Datuk Zainal Abidin Kasim said the raid was based on four months’ worth of information and intelligence.
“The police also seized four lorries and two cars worth RM300,000 believed to be used by the syndicate to deliver the smuggled cigarettes, along with RM2,200 in cash from the five men,” he said at a media conference here today.
He said that they believed the syndicate had been operating for a long time and had been raided before but continued their smuggling activities due to the lucrative monthly profits, adding their extensive network covered the northern region, east coast and the Klang Valley.
Investigations indicated that the syndicate smuggled the cigarettes from a neighbouring country and used sea routes and mid-sea transfers to evade detection, he added.
“The police are still investigating, but we believe that the mid-sea transfers were conducted to avoid detection and they would then store the illicit goods in a warehouse and store owned by a registered company. In fact, the four lorries seized had approval letters from the International Trade and Industry Ministry (Miti).
“The letters are legitimate as they used a retail company to conduct deliveries for alleged grocery goods but in truth, the lorries were all carrying smuggled cigarettes,” he said, adding that the police were tracking the company.
Zainal Abidin said the five men arrested were syndicate members and the police were tracking down the mastermind who is believed to have smuggling connections abroad, adding investigations revealed that the syndicate had been planning to expand their sales to the southern region of the country.
He said the men were remanded for four days starting today to facilitate investigations under Section 135(1)(b) of the Customs Act 1967. — Bernama
