‘Punish smugglers severely’

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SIBU: Smugglers should be whipped and the offence made non-bailable to put a stop to smuggling cases that is causing the government to lose billions of ringgit in uncollected revenue annually.

Deputy Home Affairs Minister Datuk Seri Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar, who made the suggestion, said his ministry was also pushing for the establishment of an anti-smuggling unit in Sarawak and Sabah.

To tighten the noose further, he said the Customs Department should enhance and revamp its intelligence and information unit to nab the perpetrators, who often slipped the dragnet.

“Smuggling cases should not be compounded. Offenders should be given severe punishment, including the rotan and the offence should be made non-bailable,” Wan Junaidi told The Borneo Post yesterday.

He was asked whether the ministry would impose heavier punishment on traders caught selling contraband cigarettes and whether joint enforcement along the vast and porous Sarawak border would be enhanced to stop smugglers.

Customs Department deputy director-general (Enforcement and Compliance) Datuk Matrang Suhaili had on Thursday said that Sarawak was one of the states with the highest number of cigarette-smuggling cases.

Last year, Matrang said about 187 cases were recorded in the state, involving the seizure of 4.9 million sticks of illegal cigarettes worth RM309,000 and RM2.5 million in taxes.

He added that the smuggling of cigarettes across the country had deprived the government of RM1.9 billion annually in uncollected revenue.

Santubong MP Wan Junaidi said smuggling was under the purview of the Custom Department.

“But smuggling cases seldom involve the arrest of offenders for the good were normally seized in the storage.

“The Custom Department should enhance and revamp its intelligence and information unit to get to the perpetrators.”

On the anti-smuggling unit, he said the proposal had been made quite some time ago but the government had yet to give its nod.

He said he had urged the ministry to extend its coverage to Sarawak and Sabah when he was appointed the deputy minister, and believed the matter was still being studied by the bodies such as the Public Services Departnment (JPA) and Ministry of Finance.

He said he took the initiative because of the state’s porous border.

The number of Customs, Immigration and Quarantine (CIQs) along the 2,000km of Sarawak and Kalimantan were not adequate, he reckoned.

“I submitted my proposal after discussions with the police and Immigration Sarawak. We need the anti smuggling unit in Sarawak and Sabah.”