TUMPAT: The state Customs Department arrested a lorry driver with contraband cigarettes worth RM1.18 million, including in unpaid duties, during an operation last week.
Its director Wan Jamal Abdul Salam Wan Long said the case came to light when an enforcement team from the Pengkalan Kubor branch detected a suspicious lorry entering the state via the Malaysia-Thailand border at 10.30am on Oct 24.
"The enforcement team decided to follow the lorry and intercepted the vehicle at Jalan Sultan Yahya Petra in Kota Baru.
"The team found 1,560,000 sticks of cigarettes worth about RM1.18 million upon checks on the vehicle," he told reporters here today.
Wan Jamal said initial investigation showed that the cigarettes were smuggled into Kelantan via a neighbouring country.
"Investigation also showed that the cigarettes have been smuggled from the many illegal jetties along Kelantan-Thailand border before they were distributed to several states, especially the Klang Valley," he said.
He said the 48-year-old lorry driver, who is a local, has been remanded to assist its investigation into the case.
"Our investigation showed that he received RM550 tip to deliver the cigarettes to its destination," he said.