RM1.4b lost to smuggling: Dept
Published on: Tuesday, September 25, 2018
Sandakan: A total of RM1 billion in losses was recorded from contraband cigarettes and RM400 million from contraband beer or liquor smuggled into the country last year. Customs (Enforcement/Compliance) Deputy Director-General Datuk Seri Zulkifli Yahya said for Sabah, RM8 million in unpaid tax was recorded as of August this year involving the seizure of 12 million contraband cigarettes.
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"This is very detrimental because it involves large amount of tax and the country is suffering losses due to smuggling activities," he said. "For that, we are committed to eradicating smuggling activities by conducting on-going operations," he said. This includes Ops Pacak and Ops Outlet in ensuring no harmful liquor are sold in business outlets.He said this during a media conference after completing and witnessing the signing of the Ops Pacak 2018 Agreement between Customs and the Sandakan Municipal Council, Monday. Also present were Sabah Customs Assistant Director General Datuk Abdullah Jaapar, Sandakan Municipal Council President Datuk Peter Hii Chang Lik, Sabah Customs Enforcement Deputy Director Dr. Ahmad Taufik Sulaiman, Sabah Customs Technical Operations Deputy Director Cheong Yu Min, Sabah Customs Internal Tax Operations Deputy Director Deep Singh Garpal Singh and Sandakan Customs Chief cum Organising Chairman Asan Mohd Ali and the Sandakan Municipal Secretary Faridah Giau.
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On the Ops Pacak 2018 held for the first time in Sandakan after Kota Kinabalu, Zulkifli said it is aimed at eradicating contraband smuggling activities in the district. Some 20 premises have been identified by Customs intelligence which subsequently led to joint inspections conducted with the Sandakan Municipal Council's enforcement.
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"If there are indeed premises found selling such items, we will take action under Section 135 of the Customs Act, but if nothing is found, then no action will be taken," he said. If convicted, the company or any party found selling contraband face a fine of not less than 10 times the value of the seizure and not more than 20 times the seizure or may also be imprisoned. On that same note, he said, the Ops Pacak carried out in Kota Kinabalu last year also produced good results where Ops Pacak was conducted to educate the people not to support contraband cigarettes and beer. On the progress of investigations and inspections on the sale of liquor which caused several deaths recently, he said inspections on 149 outlets in the Federal Territory found no such beverage. It found premises selling other type of contraband beer and liquor. He said further probe and inspections will be done on outlets and at the same time, he wants the public to report immediately if they come across any party selling cheap cigarettes and alcohol beverages. Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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