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ALOR GAJAH –The Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) has thwarted an attempt to smuggle 4.8 million sticks of kretek cigarettes (clove cigarettes) of various brands.
The operation dubbed Op Khas Pagar Laut on Tuesday took place in the waters of Tg Gabang, Selangor, and the seized goods were said to be worth at RM3.3 million.
Its acting director-general Datuk Saiful Lizan Ibrahim, said that the cigarette smuggling syndicate used a fishing boat, believed to be from Indonesia which was detected as a result of intelligence and assistance from the Malaysian Maritime Surveillance System at about 10.20pm.
He said that the fishing boat, without a registration number, was detected moving suspiciously on the Traffic Separation Scheme route to Tg Gabang, before fleeing when they realised the presence of MMEA assets in the area.
“The five-member MMEA vessel chased them for nearly 30 minutes, until the syndicate’s boat entered a mangrove swamp and was successfully apprehended by the team 0.05 nautical miles northwest of the Tg 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 at a press conference, which was also attended by Melaka and Negri Sembilan MMEA director Iskandar Ishak, here today.
Saiful Lizan, who is MMEA deputy director-general (logistics), said that as a result of an inspection of the fishing boat, his team found 455 large boxes filled with kretek cigarettes of various brands under a canvas, believed to have been brought in through the country’s southern waters.
“We have also seized six engines in the boat used in the smuggling attempt, and the case is being investigated under the Customs Act 1967.
“MMEA will not compromise with any criminal threats committed in the nation’s maritime areas, and will even optimise operations by patrolling the hotspots, especially during the Aidilfitri period,” he said.
He called on the public to be the agency’s eyes and ears, and to channel information to the 24-hour MERS 999 line and nearby state maritime operations centres, in the agency’s efforts to combat cross-border criminal activities.
In the meantime, he said that Op Khas Pagar Laut conducted throughout the country’s waters, to curb and fight cross-border crime during the Aidilfitri season, involved a strength of 800 officers and members as well as 45 maritime assets, including boats, ships and aircraft. – Bernama, April 13, 2023