Maritime enforcement thwarts attempt to smuggle ‘kretek’ worth RM3.3mil

 

MMEA acting director-general Saiful Lizan Ibrahim (second from left) showing the boxes of ‘kretek’ that were seized. (Bernama pic)

ALOR GAJAH: The Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) has thwarted an attempt to smuggle 4.8 million sticks of “kretek” cigarettes worth RM3.3 million, in the waters off Tanjung Gabang, Selangor, on Tuesday.

MMEA acting director-general Saiful Lizan Ibrahim said the syndicate used a fishing boat, believed to be from Indonesia. The boat was detected at about 10.20pm as a result of intelligence and assistance from the Malaysian Maritime Surveillance System (SWASLA).

The enforcement agency’s rear admiral told a press conference today that the boat did not have a registration number and was detected moving suspiciously on the traffic separation scheme (TSS) route to Tanjung Gabang, before fleeing after realising the presence of an MMEA vessel in the area.

Ads by Kiosked

“The five-member MMEA vessel gave chase for nearly 30 minutes. The syndicate’s boat entered a mangrove swamp and was successfully stopped by the enforcement team about 0.05 nautical miles northwest of the Tanjung Gabang estuary.

“However, the tekong (skipper) and crew members of the fishing boat jumped into the sea and escaped to the nearby mangrove swamp in the dark,” he said.

Saiful said his team found 455 large boxes filled with “kretek” cigarettes of various brands under a canvas and suspected they were meant for the local market in the southern region. - FMT