ISKANDAR PUTERI: The Johor Customs Department seized some 76.4 million sticks of contraband cigarettes during two raids at Port of Tanjung Pelepas (PTP), here, recently.
Its state director general Datuk Seri Paddy Abdul Halim said the cigarettes are valued at about RM13.6 million with unpaid taxes amounting to RM51.8 million.
"In the first case on Jan 28, a team of Customs personnel conducted an inspection on a 40-foot container and found 69,000 cartons (13.8 million sticks) of contraband cigarettes valued at about RM1.1 million and unpaid taxes of about RM9.2 million.
"In the second case on Feb 3, a team conducted an inspection on six containers and found 62.6 million sticks of contraband cigarettes valued at about RM12.5 million and unpaid taxes valued at RM42.6 million," said Paddy.
He said in both cases, the inspections were conducted following information from the Southern Zone Intelligence Branch and the PTP branch.
"For the first case, the container is declared to contain wood furniture and originated from China with the final destination being a country in Europe.
"In the second case, the containers were declared to contain filter rods and originated from Vietnam with the final destination being a neighbouring country," said Paddy.
He said the containers have been stored at PTP for about a month.
"Both cases are being investigated under Section 52 of the Customs Act 1967 and Regulation 18 of the Free Zone Regulations 1991. No arrests were made during the seizures," said Paddy.
He said the seizures are the largest haul for the department this year.
"This shows that our intelligence capabilities continue to improve and we will continue to conducts these inspections to prevent any smuggling attempts in the future." said Paddy.