PORT KLANG: The Customs Department has seized four containers containing pork, weighing 96,000kg, with a total seizure value estimated at RM2.7 million.
Customs Department Central Zone assistant director-general Norlela Ismail said that the meat was seized by the enforcement division in an operation conducted on Feb 13 at the North Port.
She said that the inspection found that the pork, from Brazil, did not have an import permit from the Malaysian Quarantine and Inspection Services Department (Maqis) for use in conjunction with the Chinese New Year.
"The modus operandi used by the syndicate was declaring the containers as furniture accessories through a manifest form, to avoid detection," she said at a press conference here today.
Norlela added that the department, through several raids, also seized, among others, a container from Hong Kong at the West Port, here, containing 17,000 units of airsoft pistols, with an estimated value and tax amounting to RM4.4 million.
"The inspection found the items were believed not to have an import permit from the police. The trade value is estimated at RM1.8 million, and the tax involved amounts to RM2.6 million," she said.
She added that Selangor Customs had also foiled an attempt to smuggle firecrackers, without a permit and not complying with the conditions outlined by the Home Ministry, in five separate raids between Feb 5 and 8, involving value and taxes amounting to RM694,000.
Through raids carried out in Klang and Port Klang as well as at Masjid Tanah, Melaka, the department seized 2,270 boxes of firecrackers, and arrested two local warehouse owners.
The department, in a different raid at the North Port, also seized 664 Android television units and 1,900 ceiling fan units for not having a permit or approval from SIRIM Bhd and the Energy Commission (ST).
"The television units were declared as mosaic tiles, before detection through image scanning. This act showed the intention of smuggling, because the items were declared as other goods," she said.
The department also seized liquor, involving the value of goods and taxes amounting to RM4.63 million, kept in five containers at North Port, here, in raids conducted on Feb 9 and 13.
She said that all the cases were investigated under Section 135(1)(a) of the Customs Act 1967. – BERNAMA