SEREMBAN: The Customs Department has seized smuggled alcohol and cigarettes worth RM4.9 million in three separate raids in August and early September.
Negri Sembilan Customs director Muhammad Ilyas Queek Abdullah said the first raid was conducted on a bonded truck with fake license plates in a housing area in Jenjarom, Selangor, which led to the discovery of 5,280 cans of beer.
Another 26,328 cans of beer were discovered in the subsequent raid at a Jenjarom container warehouse, he said, adding that all the tins did not have valid tax labels and were suspected to have been smuggled in.
"All the items including the truck and container have been seized under Section 114 of the Customs Act 1967 for further investigation. The total value of the seizure, including tax, is estimated to be RM600,157," he said in a statement yesterday.
The third raid, in which 287,500 packets of white cigarettes worth RM4.36 million were found, was conducted at a warehouse in Taman Perindustrian Puchong, Selangor, he said.
"The syndicate behind the smuggling of the cigarettes would bring them in without valid importation procedures, and keep them in the warehouse before distributing and selling them on the local market," he added. -- Bernama