Contraband cigarettes worth RM117,000 seized in Papar

0

The contraband cigarettes were found in a partially built structure.

KOTA KINABALU: The marine police seized about RM117,000 worth of contraband cigarettes at Kampung Novoung in Papar.

Sabah Region 4 marine police commander ACP Mohamad Madun said the smuggled cigarettes were found in a partially built structure at the village during Op Landai around 8.30pm last Thursday.

A team of marine police had spied on the structure for several hours as they believed it was stored with contraband cigarettes.

After making sure no individual or suspect was in the area, the marine police raided the hut and found various brands of contraband cigarettes worth RM116,922.96 in total, tax included.

There were 13 brands of cigarettes stored at the hut, including Astro, Menara Dunia, Extreme, A Satu, Era, Apache, Gudang Garam, Meko, LA, Absolute, Tex, Harvy and Minna, with a total of 136,440 sticks.

“All the goods have been seized and brought to the Kota Kinabalu marine police office for further action,” Mohamad said.

He said the marine police had discovered that several places in Papar have been used as temporary storage for contraband goods which would be sold in the district.

He said the locations of the storage were temporary and often moved around to evade the enforcement authorities.

Mohamad said the seizure this time was a follow-up on the sale of contraband cigarettes on the ground.

He urged the public to continue providing information on such activities in their areas.

“The police through the marine police, will step up effort to eradicate the sale of smuggled cigarettes in the market,” he said,

The case is investigated under Section 135(1)(d) of the Customs Act 1967.