PUTRAJAYA: Over half a million ringgit worth of sex toys have been seized, following a two-week long operation by the Home Ministry.
The ministry's Enforcement and Control Division also seized an assortment of lewd books and prints, clothing, accessories, and printing machines in the operation, which began on June 1.
Its secretary, Nik Yusaimi Yussof, said checks were conducted on 1,759 premises in those two weeks.
"We opened a total of 119 investigation papers, and made seizures worth RM1.2 million.
"We also detained 47 local men, three women, as well as one foreigner," he told reporters at the division's office here, today.
He said among the items seized included 15,602 sex toys worth RM540,000, which were believed to have been imported from China and Japan.
"These items were seized following raids on several premises in Penang, Selangor, Johor, and Kedah.
"Seven individuals, including two women, were detained there," he said. Checks revealed that one of the premises in Telok Panglima Garang, Selangor, had been raided before, and the owner issued with a RM5,000 compound for selling sex toys. This time, he was found to have committed the same offence.
"We will conduct investigations and recommend that a heftier compound be issued this time.
"It is also worth noting that during the operations, we also seized printing machines, which were being operated without valid licences under Section 3(4) of the Printing Presses and Publications Act 1984.
"Premises that own any machinery capable of printing over a thousand impressions an hour, must apply, and have a licence," he said. The machines were seized following raids in Seri Kembangan and Klang.
He said one of the machines was believed to have been used to print lewd images.
"We found printing plates there with these images.
"We view the matter seriously because we do not want comics with lewd images to fall into the hands of teenagers or children," he said.
Nik Yusaimi said the cases were being investigated under the Printing Presses and Publications Act 1984.
Those with information on similar activities can contact the Home Ministry at 03-8000 8000, or 03-8889 3145, or send an email to aduanpk@moha.gov.my