Sibu Customs seizes RM5.126mil in undeclared goods so far this year
SIBU: The Customs Department seized undeclared goods worth RM5.126mil, including taxes and duties, in Sibu from January to May 10 this year.
The goods include cigarettes, liquor, drugs and other items where the customs duties had not been paid.
Sarawak Customs director Norizan Yahya also said that 39 arrests had been made following 55 cases in Sibu.
"The unpaid tax and duties on the goods seized amounts to RM2.7mil," he said at a press conference on Friday (May 17).
He revealed that on May 7, Customs had seized a total of 2.1 million sticks of illicit cigarettes and 1,837l of liquor worth RM763,874, and involving unpaid duites and taxes of RM2,274,537.
The seizure was made at an unoccupied building in Lorong Tunku Abdul Rahman here.
"No arrests were made despite the Customs team waiting there for three hours, as no one stepped forward to claim the goods.
"We are still investigating to see who owns the building," Morizan said.
The modus operandi, he revealed, was to hide and store the undeclared goods in an unoccupied building so as to avoid detection by the authorities before it is distributed into the local market.
The case is being investigated under Section 135(1)(d) of the Customs Act 1967, which provides for a fine of up to 10 times the value of the goods or RM100,000 or jail of not less than six months and not exceeding five years or both if convicted.
"Sibu Customs has also foiled six cases of drug smuggling with seizures of 46.88kg of methamphetamine, ketamine and ganja worth RM1.5mil being brought in via air transport during the same period," he added.
He also revealed that there were nine cases involving RM367,306 of goods at the Rejang Port Authority that it was not properly declared.
There was also one case involving a Brunei-registered car that abused the tax exemption facility under the Customs Duty Order (Exemption) 2017 where the tax involved was RM44,537.
Norizan also called on the public to provide information on smuggling activities by calling the department's toll-free hotline at 1-800-88-8855.