A section of the seized illicit cigarettes at the house in Marudi.
KUCHING: The General Operations Force (GOF) carried out three successful operations in Engkelili, Sibu and Marudi under ‘Ops Libas’ between Oct 19 and 21, Sarawak GOF commander SAC Mancha Ata revealed today.
Mancha said the first operation was carried out at a house in Engkelili, Sri Aman, which saw the seizure of RM97,500 (including tax) worth of illicit cigarettes around 1pm on Oct 19.
Checks revealed 650 cartons of illicit cigarettes (130,000 sticks) of different brands that were kept in 13 brown boxes.
The seized items were then handed over to the Lubok Antu district police for further action under Section 135 (1) (D) of the Customs Act 1967.
The second operation, he said, involved the seizure of 40 illegal timber logs, an excavator and a bulldozer from a male suspect at a logging site at Mile 40 Jalan Sibu- Selangau around 5.30pm on Oct 19.
“The male suspect admitted to PGA personnel during the raid that he was the owner of the heavy machinery that was allegedly used for illegal timber activities,” said Mancha.
The suspect also failed to produce relevant documents authorising him to carry out any timber activities in the area.
He added that there were two male workers at the location who managed to escape after sensing the presence of the raiding team.
“From the second raid, we managed to make a seizure amounting to RM505,000. All of the seized items and the suspect were then handed over to the Sarawak Forest Department for further action,” said Mancha.
For the third successful operation, Mancha said it was carried out a house at Jalan Muhibah in Marudi which saw the seizure of illicit goods such as cigarettes and alcoholic drinks around 3.10pm yesterday (Oct 21).
“It is believed that the house acted as a storage facility for the illicit goods,” said Mancha, adding that a male suspect was also arrested at the scene.
He added that the male suspect was in the midst of loading the boxes of illicit goods inside his multipurpose vehicle when the raid took place.
He added that the suspect tried to flee into the nearby bushes behind the house but was caught after a short chase.
“Checks revealed a total of 107 boxes of alcoholic drinks, 133 cartons of regular cigarettes and 38 cartons of kretek cigarettes were found inside the house and vehicle,” he added.
It is estimated that the seized value of the illicit goods and vehicle was about RM120,985.
All of the items were handed over to the Marudi district police for further action under Section 135(1)(D) of the Customs Act 1967.
Meanwhile, Mancha revealed that as of Oct 21, PGA Sarawak has seized a total of RM21,795,833 worth of goods and properties under Ops Libas.
“The amount is tabulated from a total of 71 cases which also saw the arrest of 163 suspects comprising of 107 locals and 56 foreigners,” he added.