TAWAU: An attempt to smuggle in 28,000 Kretek cigarettes hidden in a sack full of bananas through the waters of Tawau was foiled by the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (Malaysian Maritime) Maritime Zone, at 6am last Friday.
Tawau Maritime Zone Director, Maritime Captain Shahrizan Raman said the seizure was the result of an inspection of a passenger boat traveling from Sebatik island to CIQ Jetty.
According to him, a 33-year-old local male skipper and a 48-year-old Indonesian female passenger were on board of the boat.
“Upon inspection of the cargo carried by the boat, we found 28,000 Kretek cigarettes hidden in sacks containing bananas believed to be smuggled from neighbouring countries for the local market,” Shahrizan said.
The value of the total seizure, including the boat and engine, was estimated to be worth RM43,000 and cigarettes RM18,000.
Earlier, Shahrizan said maritime patrol boat was dispatched to stop the boat after receiving intelligence information about the smuggling of untaxed cigarettes at CIQ Jetty.
He said the skipper along with the passengers as well as the cargo and the boat were arrested and seized and handed over to the Malaysian Maritime investigation officer for further investigation under Section 135 (1) (d) of the Customs Act 1967.
Shahrizan said, for the first offence of cigarette smuggling, individuals found guilty could be fined not less than 10 times the value of the goods and not more than 20 times the value of the goods, or imprisoned for a period not exceeding three years or both.
Commenting further, he said Maritime Malaysia takes seriously all cross-border criminal activities and patrol assets will always be ready to be moved at any time.
He added that enforcement will continue to be carried out from time to time and his party requested that any information related to crimes at sea be channelled to the Tawau Maritime Zone Operations Centre at 089-750116 or MERS 999.
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