THE Johor Customs Department raided a warehouse in Kulai on July 23 and seized contraband cigarettes worth RM9.45 million including unpaid tax, the biggest seizure by Johor Customs this year.

Johor Customs director Sazali Mohamad said the raid carried out by the Johor Baru enforcement unit at 2.30pm, found eight million sticks of contraband cigarettes comprising regular white sticks and clove cigarettes, hidden in boxes that were covered by canvas.

He said the cigarettes were believed to have been smuggled in from Indonesia via the sea route.

“These cigarettes are meant for the local market and believed to have been smuggled in via the sea route because some boxes were wet due to seawater contamination,” he said in Johor Baru today.

Sazali said the cigarettes alone were worth RM3.8 million.

The case will be investigated under section 135(1)(d) of the Customs Act 1967. 

Sazali also said in a separate case on July 22, the Sungai Pulai enforcement division of the Johor Customs Department confiscated 3,840 cans of beer (duty not paid) from a Toyota Estima Aeras at Km2.7 Jalan Sultan Ismail along the Iskandar coastal highway near Nusajaya.

“The contraband beer was hidden at the rear end of the vehicle driven by a 26-year-old local man. The confiscated beverage is estimated to be worth RM10,700, while unpaid duties amounted to RM37,300,” he said.

Sazali said when the vehicle was stopped at 6.45am, the driver failed to show any document such as invoices and Customs Form 1, or any import permit while the vehicle had a false registration number.

“The syndicate’s modus operandi was to use multi-purpose vehicles to transport the contraband liquor, before distributing it to interested parties,” he said.

Sazali said the suspect had pleaded not guilty after he was charged in a magistrate court in Johor Baru on July 27 under section 74(1)(d) of the Excise Act 1976. – Bernama, August 3, 2022.