KOTA BARU: The General Operations Force (GOF) foiled an attempt to smuggle dried tobacco into the state with the seizure of more than RM600,000 worth of the item yesterday.
However, no one was arrested in the 6pm operation here.
GOF Southeast Brigade commander Datuk Hasan Basri Ahmad Safar said the seizure was made by the Eighth Battalion based in Pengkalan Chepa.
He said the team went to a store at Kampung Chempaka here following tip-off on smuggling activities.
"After raiding the store at about 6pm, they found 405 packages each containing 10kg of dried tobacco.
"The packages were seized after the GOF members waited for 30 minutes and no one turned up to claim the items," he said in a statement.
Hasan Basri said initial investigations showed that the tobacco was smuggled to Kelantan from a neighbouring country.
"We suspect the dried leaves were being kept at the store before being distributed to local suppliers here," he said.
He added checks also revealed that the tobacco was brought into the state via the many illegal jetties along the Kelantan-Thai border.