JOHOR BAHRU, Sept 24 — The Royal Malaysian Customs Department in Johor seized 2.91 million sticks of kretek and white cigarettes, estimated at RM3.9 million inclusive of duty and taxes, in two operations on September 6 and September 12.
Customs deputy director-general (enforcement and compliance) Datuk Sazali Mohamad said the first seizure was made by the Johor Customs Enforcement Division Operations Unit after an inspection of a commercial lorry at the Sultan Iskandar Building.
830,000 sticks of white cigarettes worth RM166,000 with import duty and sales tax amounting to RM564,400 were found in the lorry driven by a 39-year-old local man.
“The modus operandi is to not declare the cigarettes, but instead to smuggle it through commercial lorries into Singapore,” he said during a press conference at Menara Kastam today.
The Muar Customs Enforcement Division made the second seizure on September 12 from three residences around Jerantut, Pahang, and Marang, Terengganu.
It involved 2.08 million sticks of kretek and white cigarettes worth RM625,000 with import duty and sales tax of RM2.58 million, suspected to be smuggled from Thailand, Vietnam, and Indonesia.
“They use residential premises to store the cigarettes. We are tracking the owners of the residences,” Sazali said, adding the cases are being investigated under Section 135 (1) (d) of the Customs Act 1967.
— Bernama
