Marine police seize contraband cigarettes worth over RM1.5 million

KOTA BHARU - Region Three Marine Police Force (PPM W3) has seized contraband cigarettes worth RM1,575,000 during a raid at a fisherman jetty in Tumpat, near here, on Sunday.

Kelantan police chief Datuk Muhamad Zaki Harun said the raid was carried out at 5.50am by a team from Pengkalan Kubor's PPM W3 Marine Intelligence Unit and the Tumpat district police headquarters (IPD) Task Force who were conducting operations under Op Kontraban.

"During the raid, the suspect fled the scene when he realised the presence of the police.

"During an inspection of a lorry that was left in the scene, the team found a number of boxes suspected to contain white cigarettes with unpaid customs duty, suspected to have been smuggled in from the neighbouring country,” he said in a statement, today.

Muhamad Zaki said all the seized cigarettes and the lorry were estimated to be worth RM1,655,000.

"The cigarettes and the lorry were taken to PPMW3 operation headquarters in Pengkalan Kubor and handed over to IPD Tumpat for further investigation.

"The case is being investigated under Section 135(1)(d) of the Customs Act,” he said. - BERNAMA