S’wak Customs seizes lorry, contraband ciggies worth RM648,000 in Miri

KUCHING (June 16): Sarawak Customs Department has seized a lorry and contraband cigarettes estimated to be worth RM648,730 in Jalan Lopeng, Miri, last Thursday.

Sarawak Customs director Norizan Yahya in a statement said the raid was conducted at 11.24am at the Assar Commercial Centre.

“Inspections found a lorry with the engine still running without the driver. A check on the lorry found a total of 740,000 sticks of cigarettes believed to be untaxed.

“There were no representatives or the lorry’s owner present at the scene. The raiding team waited for almost one hour, but no individual turned up to claim ownership of the lorry,” he added.

Norizan said the syndicate’s modus operandi is to use an isolated path and to avoid using the main roads to distribute the contraband in an attempt to avoid detection.

The case is being investigated under Section 135(1)(d) of the Customs Act 1967; where a person can be fined up to RM500,000 or imprisonment of up to five years or both, if found guilty.