BUTTERWORTH: The Customs Department seized RM7.13 million in beer, including tax, that had been falsely declared as aluminium flakes, copper alloy, and cabin recently.
They managed to uncover the ruse during three separate cases at the North Port in Port Klang on Jan 31 and Feb 7.
The beer was meant for the Chinese New Year celebrations.
Penang Customs Department director Roselan Ramli said, in the first case at 11am on Jan 31, they detained two containers at the North Port before accompanying them back here.
He said checks inside the two containers led to the recovery of 106,560 cans of beer weighing 52,668 litres and worth RM263,340 with tax amounting to RM1,708,984.20.
"Initial checks showed the containers were handled by a shipping company with a branch in Port Klang, Selangor, and imported by a private limited company (Sdn Bhd) in Kuala Lumpur.
"From the documents obtained, the items are believed to be from an East Asia country, and were declared as aluminium flakes in the bill of lading and import manifest.
"We detained a man, in his 30s, to assist in the investigation," he told newsmen here today.
Roselan said the man acts as the shipping agent.
He said in the second case about 12.45pm the same day, they detained four containers at the North Port before accompanying them back here.
He said checks inside the four containers led to the recovery of 202,356 cans of beer weighing 102,098 litres worth RM561,541.20 with tax amounting to RM3,451,339.98.
In the third case about 11.30am on Feb 7, Roselan said they detained a container at the North Port before accompanying them back here.
Checks inside the container led to the recovery of 52,320 cans of beer weighing 26,160 litres worth RM144,000 with tax amounting to RM1,004,282.40.
"For the two cases, no arrest was made and investigations showed the items too were brought in from an East Asia country. They were respectively declared as copper alloy and cabin.
"Just like the first case, the containers in the second and third cases were handled by a shipping company with a branch in Port Klang, Selangor and imported by a private limited company (Sdn Bhd) in Selangor," he added.
"We believed different syndicates were behind the attempts to smuggle the beers into the country as they involved different shipping companies.
"We are investigating the matter further," he said.
The three cases are probed under Section 135(1)(e) and Section 135(1)(g) of the Customs Act 1967 and Section 74(1)(e) of the Excise Act 1976.