TUMPAT: Kelantan Customs Department seized more than 900,000 sticks of cigarettes worth some RM360,000 in three separate operations recently.
Its director Wan Jamal Abdul Salam Wan Long said a 26-year-old man was arrested in one of the operations, on possession of the cigarettes.
Also seized was a Perodua Bezza believed to be used to transport the cigarettes.
He said the three operations were conducted on April 4 in Pasir Puteh and Machang districts.
"The operations which began at 10.30pm and ended an hour later, were carried out based on public tip-offs on illegal activities being held at the respective premises," he told a Press conference here today.
Wan Jamal said the first raid was held at the roadside of Jalan Kota Baru-Kuala Terengganu near Kampung Gong Setapa where they seized 20,520 sticks of cigarettes and detained the man.
"In the second operation at a house in Kampung Gong Dato, Pasir Puteh, we seized another 28,800 sticks.
"The remaining 850,720 sticks were seized in the third operation, from another house in Taman Sri Machang," he added.
Wan Jamal said the cigarettes with unpaid duties amounting to RM606,000, were believed to have been brought into Kelantan from a southern state.
"We suspect the cigarettes will be for local distribution and the houses were used as transit points," he added.