The lorry, spotted at Jalan Spring with dozens of cases containing alcoholic beverages that do not bear the paid tax/duties mark.
MIRI: A lorry and its load of 3,140 litres of alcoholic beverages were confiscated by the Customs Department enforcement personnel during an operation at Jalan Spring in Lutong here on Sunday.
The alcoholic beverages are estimated to be worth RM75,035.09, including unpaid tax and duties. According to Customs Sarawak director Datuk Sharifah Halimah Tuanku Taha, the operation was set up following public tip-off.
A team of personnel from the enforcement section of the Customs Department was despatched to the site at Jalan Spring at around 6.15am, where they saw the said lorry parked by the roadside there, she
said.
“Upon checking, the raiding team found alcoholic beverages of various brands, suspected to be contrabands, which were kept inside the lorry.
“There was nobody else at the scene,” said Sharifah Halimah, adding that her enforcement team later took the lorry and its cargo to Customs Department Miri’s storage, pending further investigations.
“We believe that the lorry has been used to deliver smuggled goods to premises across the city,” she added.
The case will be investigated under Section 135(1)(d) of Customs Act 1967, which provides for a fine 10 times the total value of the goods, or RM100,000, or imprisonment of between six months and five years, or both, upon conviction.
Sharifah Halimah also called upon the public to cooperate with the department by channelling information regarding activities suspected to be linked to the supply, distribution or sales of contraband goods, or those without paid tax and duties.
This can be done by calling the toll-free line 1-800-888-855, or accessing http://aduan.customs.gov.my.Alternatively, file complaints at any Customs Department office throughout Sarawak.