KUALA LUMPUR: The Customs Department has lodged a police report over viral claims that a container loaded with a shipment of cigarettes allegedly linked to the Perak royal family was released without following proper procedure.
The department has denied that any such incident occurred and that it was ordered by its director-general, Datuk Anis Rizana Mohd Zainudin.
Anis said, according to records, the shipment had gone through all the proper procedures set by the department.
"It was a 40-foot container with a Full Container Load (FCL) and the Customs Form 1 showed that the importer had declared it to be a shipment of 1,071 pieces of baggage. A
"Records of a scan on the container as well as a physical inspection confirmed that the information in the manifest and the form matched the declaration. Therefore, the department is satisfied that the declaration made complies with the requirements of Section 79 of the Customs Act 1967.
"The importer had also paid the Import Sales Tax, and the goods were released from Customs control."
Anis said the department also denies that its officers had received any instruction from her to not levy duties or taxes on the shipment.
"The director-general does not have any power to exclude or release anyone from paying the entirety of duties and taxes, or impose only partial payment," she said, adding that the power to do so lies solely in the hands of the finance minister.
She said the department and its officers were committed to and fully aware of the powers given them by the law.
Anis added that the police report was lodged to safeguard the good name and image of the director-general and the department as well as uphold the sovereignty of the royal institution.