Mahkos (third left) and his officers show the seized items.
MIRI (March 4): The Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) foiled an attempt to smuggle alcoholic beverages and cigarettes in the Lawas waters on Monday.
During the operation, about 50 boxes or 1,200 cans of alcoholic beverages and 80 cartons or 16,000 sticks of cigarettes—worth an estimated RM20,000—were seized.
MMEA Miri deputy director (Operation) Mahkos Juing said the seizure took place at a location approximately 0.22 nautical miles from Tanjung Kuala Lawas.
“Based on information from the MMEA intelligence team, our patrol boat Petir 80 was deployed to the location to conduct operations and enforcement in the surrounding area.
“As it entered Kuala Lawas at around 12.20am, the patrol boat detected suspicious activity at a distance of about 0.1 nautical miles between the boat and the incident location,” he told a press conference at the MMEA Miri Complex today.
He said upon noticing the presence of Petir 80, a white four-wheel-drive vehicle sped away from the scene, leaving behind black-coloured packages containing cigarettes and alcoholic beverages.
The case is now being investigated under the Customs Act 1967 for attempted smuggling of untaxed cigarettes and alcoholic beverages.
Adding on, Mahkos said MMEA Malaysia is committed to curbing smuggling and criminal activities at sea, and called on the public to continue cooperating in preventing smuggling and maritime crimes by channelling any relevant information.
For any information, complaints or emergency at sea, call 999, Miri MMEA Operations Centre (085-649111), or the Sarawak MMEA Operations Centre (082-432544/082-432016).