RANTAU PANJANG: Hari Raya Aidilfitri is three months away, but firecrackers and fireworks were already being smuggled into the country.

On Wednesday, the General Operations Force (GOF) seized firecrackers and fireworks valued about RM120,000 at the Bukit Lata area, here.

However, no one was arrested in the 8pm operation.

"A GOF member was on routine patrol when he spotted 80 boxes in a bush.

"Upon checking, he found various types of firecrackers and fireworks inside.
"We suspect the items were smuggled from Thailand to meet demands during Hari Raya Aidilfitri," GOF Ninth battalion commanding officer Superintendent Kamaruddin Yusoff said here yesterday.

In other operations, GOF members seized 1,388 pieces of headscarves valued about RM124,000 in Tumpat.

They also seized nine head of cattle, believed to be from Thailand, valued around RM36,000.

Kamaruddin said his men had seized items worth more than RM300,000, including diesel and rice, in a four-day operation since Tuesday.

In Bukit Bunga, the state Anti Smuggling Unit yesterday detained a lorry driver and his attendant for possessing 8,000kg of rice worth RM28,000.