KOTA BARU: The Kelantan Customs Department successfully confiscated 13 tonnes of smuggled frozen pork, 1.5kg of cannabis and 168 methamphetamine pills, and 2.85 tonnes of frozen chicken meat, in three separate operations in the state recently.
In a statement today, State Customs director Wan Jamal Abdul Salam Wan Long said in the first case, a lorry driver and cleaner transporting frozen pork worth RM116,820 were nabbed along Jalan Kampung Gertak Serong in Pasir Mas on Jan 4.
"Their smuggling modus operandi involved acquiring the pork at the illegal Mentua base near Pengkalan Kubor, Tumpat, before loading it onto a refrigerated truck.
"The pork, with an estimated tax of RM46,728, is believed to have been brought in by boat and is intended for the Peninsula's west coast market," he said.
He said the confiscated pork, import duty, and truck valued at RM150,000, amounted to RM313,548.
In the second case the same day, Wan Jamal stated that the Department also seized 1.490 kg of compressed cannabis leaves and 168 methamphetamine pills, with a total value of RM5,853.09.
He said the substances were seized at a courier company in Rantau Panjang, Pasir Mas at 10 am after the Enforcement Division inspected two white plastic packages at their premises.
In the third instance, Wan Jamal said the department thwarted an attempt to smuggle 2.850 tonnes of frozen chicken from a neighboring country after a raid in Kampung Becah Keranji, Pasir Tumboh, Kota Bharu, on Jan 3.
"The confiscated chicken was valued at RM15,247, with an estimated tax of RM6,099. A 56-year-old man was also detained," he said.
He said the frozen pork and chicken are classified as prohibited import items under Item 1, Schedule Three/Part I of the Customs (Prohibition on Imports) Order 2023, adding that the case is being investigated under Section 135(1)(e) of the Customs Act 1967.
"As for the compressed cannabis leaves and methamphetamine, the case has been classified under the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952," he said. --BERNAMA