GEORGE TOWN: The Marine Police Region 1 seized 24,500 cartons of contraband cigarettes worth RM5.1 million, including tax, during a contraband operation in a terrace house at Jalan Choong Lye Hock here on Tuesday.
The haul is the largest in the state for this year.
Its Commander Assistant Commissioner Shamsol Kassim said the success came 48 hours after they detected the house, used as a storage area for the contraband goods.
He said, last Sunday, a team of one senior police officer and six officers from the marine intelligence unit detected the house, believed to be rented, used as a storage area.
He said surveillance for 48 hours revealed no movement in the house.
He added that, yesterday, police conducted checks at the house and managed to seize the 4.9 million sticks of white cigarettes.
"We believe that the house was used as a storage area, and that the syndicate often switched locations, to avoid detection.
"We also have every reason to believe that the contraband goods were smuggled into the country from a neighbouring country using the sea route. This is because the cigarette cartons are packed in plastic bags to avoid them from getting wet.
"The smuggled goods are brought into the country using commercial vessels from the neighbouring country.
The vessel will slow down in the middle of the sea so that the goods can be transferred into a feeder boat to be brought to shore here," he told newsmen at the marine police base in Batu Uban here today, adding that the contraband goods were meant for the local market.
Shamsol said they had handed over the matter to the northeast district for further action.
"We are tracking down the owner of the house. We expect several arrests to be made in connection to the seizure.
"We will continue with such operations to weed out smuggling activities which is causing losses to the government," he added.
The case is being investigated under Section 135(1)(d) of the Customs Act 1967 for possession or selling of smuggled cigarettes.