'Smugglers using wet markets to store cigarettes'

 

The Customs Department believes certain individuals have taken the opportunity to use a famous wet markets here as a new place to store smuggled cigarettes. - AFP pic.

KOTA BARU: The Customs Department believes certain individuals have taken the opportunity to use a famous wet markets here as a new place to store smuggled cigarettes.

State Customs director Mohd Rakbi Mohd Saud said this was detected following a raid at a wet market yesterday morning.

"In the raid, Customs officers discovered 48,000 pieces of cigarettes in one of the stores located at the ground floor of the wet market.

"No one was arrested in the two-hour operation which started at 10am," he said in a statement.

Mohd Rakbi said initial investigations showed that the cigarettes worth almost RM9,000, were smuggled into the state from a neighbouring country.

"We have received information that some individuals kept the smuggled cigarettes inside the store with other daily essential items to avoid being detected by the authorities.

"The cigarettes with unpaid taxes amounting to RM34,000, were to be distributed to the East Coast states," he added.

He said the department would track down the owner of the store who is believed to have gone into hiding.

The department urged the public with any information on smuggling activities to contact its toll-free line at 1-800-88-8855 or the nearest Customs office. - NST