ISKANDAR PUTERI: In a bid to avoid detection, a syndicate filled up a 40ft container with tissue to smuggle contraband cigarettes into Australia worth more than RM420,000 through Johor Port.
However, their attempt was foiled when the Johor Customs Department found the illicit cigarettes hidden inside a special compartment under the container’s floor.
Customs state director Misbahudin Parmin said officers carried out a thorough inspection on the container at the Johor Port’s Custom examination area at about 11.35am on Dec 9.
“Initially, we thought that the hidden contraband found inside the compartment were drugs but further checks by the Customs Department narcotics unit revealed 428,000 sticks of illicit cigarettes, which we believe were produced in Hong Kong due to their packaging.
“The cigarettes were hidden under the floor of the container and covered with boxes of various tissues such as wet tissues, kitchen towels and toilet-paper rolls.
“Checks on the documents revealed that the container was meant for Australia,” he told a press conference at the Sungai Pulai Customs Enforcement Complex here yesterday.
Misbahudin added that this was the first time the department had come across such a method being used to hide illegal cigarettes.
He said the department arrested a company representative, a 35-year-old local man, for further investigations.
Misbahudin added that the total value of the items seized was about RM140,300 while unpaid duties amounted to about RM285,900.
Separately, Misbahudin said a team from the Johor Customs Department also seized some RM380,000 worth of scrap metal at the Centralised Inspection Complex at Port Klang in Selangor.
“Following a tip-off, we managed to seize six containers containing the scrap metal at about 12.30pm on Dec 5. Checks on Customs documents found that the goods were declared as copper raw material.”
He added that the metal scraps were valued at about RM306,000 while the unpaid duties amounted to about RM45,900.