SEREMBAN, March 10 — The Negeri Sembilan customs department has seized 8,990 cartons of contraband white cigarettes and kretek in a raid on an oil palm plantation in Kampung Air Hitam in Klang, Selangor.
Its director Muhammad Hafiz Ishak said the cigarettes seized in the operation at about 3 pm on Feb 22 were worth RM144,032, with unpaid duties of RM1.2 million.
They also confiscated a three-tonne lorry and 14 cars, all worth RM338,032, believed to have been used by the syndicate involved.
“An inspection of the abandoned lorry found Saat cigarettes and Touro International kretek suspected to have been illegally imported.
“We also found several jammers for blocking communication via handphones used by the raiding party within a 300-metre radius,” he told a press conference at the department’s headquarters here today.
Muhammad Hafiz said the cigarettes were transported by the lorry to the estate, where they would be loaded onto private vehicles for distribution to grocery shops in Selangor and Negeri Sembilan.
“No arrests were made because the suspects fled before our arrival, but we believe 15 people were involved in the syndicate, which had been operating for two to three years,” he added.
He said that last year the Negeri Sembilan customs seized about 1.5 million sticks of cigarettes worth RM177,000, with unpaid duties of RM1.3 million, in 300 operations in the state.
