The Royal Malaysian Customs Department (JKDM) in Melaka has successfully seized cigarettes, alcoholic beverages and electronic waste (e-waste) worth more than RM13 million in a series of coordinated operations carried out within less than a month.
Melaka JKDM director Roslan Yusoff said the largest seizure involved seven containers carrying cigarettes and liquor valued at RM10,352,391.72, which were reportedly in transit to ports in Sarawak, Labuan, and several foreign destinations.
He said checks revealed that the containers were declared as transhipment cargo, but the required shipping manifest declarations were not submitted within the stipulated timeframe.
On May 18, enforcement officers detained and seized the seven containers, which were found to contain 8.82 million cigarettes and 65,614.80 litres of alcoholic beverages, following inspections conducted at Port Klang in Selangor.
Roslan said the containers originated from overseas and arrived at Port Klang in late April before being scheduled for shipment to Kuching, Labuan and other international locations.
In a separate series of raids conducted on April 23 and 24, JKDM officers inspected two premises in Seberang Perai, Penang, and another in Baling, Kedah, resulting in the seizure of cigarettes and liquor worth RM1,530,222.20.
He said the items were confiscated after it was found that they did not carry valid customs duty stamps, while some of the alcoholic beverages were labelled as “imported” products.
On May 7 and 8, authorities also seized e-waste worth RM1.25 million, believed to have originated from South Korea, involving five containers at Port Klang. The items had been falsely declared as industrial steel products, including carbon steel pipes, alloy steel bars and ferrous materials.
In a separate case, a Toyota Vellfire was stopped at the Ayer Hitam toll plaza on May 8, where inspections uncovered 249,000 sticks of cigarettes without customs duty stamps, valued at RM290,359.20.
Roslan said seven individuals, including a woman aged between their 20s and 40s, were arrested to assist investigations under the Customs Act 1967.
