SANDAKAN: Customs Department has so far has raided 149 premises selling alcohol and found 29 Volcano beer cans which is among the brands suspected to be contaminated with harmful substance.
Customs (Enforcement/Compliance) deputy chief director Datuk Seri Zulkifli Yahya said the inspection was carried out at Kuala Lumpur, Selangor, and Kuala Lumpur International Airport.
He said the beer cans were confiscated from these premises currently being investigated, stressing action would be taken but declined to divulge further information.
“Of the 149 premises inspected, we only detected 29 beer cans of Volcano brand.
“During the inspection we found most of the cases were those involving alcohol and cigarettes that are not approved by customs,” he told reporters after launching of Ops Pacak 2018 here today.
(Volcano is one of the brands suspected to have been consumed by victims in the cases of alcohol poisoning.)
Zulkifli said four companies had been charged in court.
As of yesterday, the death toll caused by consuming alcohol containing methanol has increased to 34 people since it was reported last Monday. Deaths were recorded in Kuala Lumpur, Negeri Sembilan, and Perak.
Meanwhile, the two -week Ops Pacak aimed at tackling contraband cigarettes and alcohol would focus on 20 premises in the district.
In Sabah, he noted 12 million cigarette sticks involving over RM8 million in taxes were seized this year and the department had identified about 60 premises selling the goods illegally.