RM50,000 cigarettes seized, man offering bribe among trio held

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Peter (fifth left) with the smuggled cigarettes seized by GOF Battalion 17 personnel from Lahad Datu.

TAWAU: A 44-year-old man was arrested for trying to bribe General Operations Force (GOF) Battalion 14 personnel with RM2,000 in a bid to secure the release of the driver and assistant of a lorry, which was found to be laden with RM50,000 worth of smuggled cigarettes at a road check-point (RCP) in Kalabakan yesterday morning.

District police chief ACP Peter AK Umbuas told a press conference yesterday that the lorry was stopped at the RCP at 1.55am and upon checking, the personnel found 36 rolls of white rubber in a container.

Further check revealed the 7,452 cartons of smuggled Premium cigarettes in 297 black plastics hidden behind the white rubber.

Peter said the 34-year-old driver and a 44-year-old assistant were detained.

As the lorry was being checked, he said a man came and approached Inspector Navin Jason A/L A. Xavier and offered RM2,000 bribe in an envelope for the release of the lorry driver and the assistant.

He said the suspect was promptly arrested for trying to bride a civil servant and will be handed over to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission for further action.

Peter added the seized cigarettes and lorry were worth a total of RM170,000 and the case would be investigated under Section 135(1)(d) of the Immigration Act 1967.