KUCHING, NOV 1 – Sarawak’s Royal Malaysian Customs Department (JKDM) foiled an attempt to smuggle cigarettes and liquor that were claimed to be frozen shrimp products after conducting a bypass on Jalan Kuching-Samarahan Expressway on 22 October.
Its director, Norizan Yahya, said his party seized a 10-tonne lorry with a load of 3.4 million cigarettes of various brands suspected to be from neighboring countries and 2,376 liters of liquor suspected of not being cleared by customs with estimated duties and taxes worth RM3.15 million.
“On October 22 last at around 2pm, while carrying out coastal patrols around Kuching City, Sarawak, a team of members from the Kuching Marine Unit detected a suspicious lorry suspected of carrying non-customs goods.
“The team followed the cargo lorry and managed to bypass it on Jalan Kuching – Samarahan Expressway,” he said in a press conference at the JKDM Kuching Enforcement Division Store in Kuching today.
A local citizen in his 40s who is also the lorry driver was also detained for further investigation. Norizan said the case was investigated under Section 135(1)(e) of the Customs Act 1967 and if convicted the offender could be fined not more than RM500,000 or imprisoned not more than five years or both. – Named
