JOHOR BARU: A suspected smuggler left behind a stash of contraband cigarettes worth RM1.37 million in a makeshift shack at Pantai Bio Desaru, in Kota Tinggi, in his hasty escape from a police dragnet on May 7.
The suspect also abandoned a Perodua Kembara worth RM20,000, upon realising the presence of police officers in the 9pm seizure on Tuesday.
Johor police chief Commissioner M. Kumar said acting on a public tip-off, state marine police officers mounted surveillance on the smuggler's operation for two weeks before storming it.
"Upon seeing the approaching raiding officers, the suspect fled the scene, and abandoned the contraband cigarettes and Kembara," he told a press conference held at State Marine Police headquarters in Tampoi, today.
Police seized 5,535 cartons of cigarettes with unpaid duties during the raid.
The 914,600 cigarettes sticks were in packs that were not stamped with banderols, which are the legitimate seals for duty-paid cigarettes.
Kumar said the smuggler is believed to be a member of a syndicate.
Their modus operandi is to smuggle in the contraband via sea from Indonesia in modified fishing boats fitted with high-powered motors, before anchoring at the shack by Pantai Bio Desaru.
The contraband will be unloaded and sold to local consumers within the district, and for distribution in other districts in Johor.
The case is investigated under Section 135(1)(D) of the Customs Act 1967 for smuggling unpaid-duty goods.