By William Isau
SIBU, Jan 10: The 10th Battalion of the General Operations Force (GOF) in Lanang seized illicit cigarettes and liquor as well as a lorry, worth a total of RM295,673.
GOF commanding officer Supt Mohammad Hafiz Kadir said the seizure marked the first success of Op Kontraban this year.
“Our enforcement team conducted a raid on a premises at Jalan Jerwit Barat around 5.30pm last Thursday (Jan 6) and arrested a 33-year-old man who claimed to be the caretaker of the premises,” he said in a media statement yesterday.
Further inspection by the team led by Inspector Mohd Shaiful Nizar Mohd Yusoff revealed that the premises had been used as a store to keep smuggled goods.
Mohammad Hafiz said the suspect had failed to submit any valid documents relating to the ownership of the items suspected to be smuggled.
“The GOF team then confiscated 720 cartons of kretek cigarettes worth RM122,400 and 400 cartons of canned beer and 50 cartons of bottled beer worth RM66,021.12 and RM7,252.32 respectively,” he said.
He added that a Nissan diesel lorry estimated to be worth RM100,000 was also seized.
The suspect has been remanded for four days until January 10 while the seizure has been handed over to the Sibu police’s Criminal Investigation Department for further action and investigation.
The case is being investigated under Section 135 (1) (d) of the Customs Act 1967. — DayakDaily
