KOTA BHARU: The Royal Malaysian Customs Department (JKDM) in Kelantan thwarted a smuggling operation involving cigarettes worth over RM600,000, including taxes, in two separate raids at Kampung Mentera, near Bukit Marak, Bachok, recently.

Kelantan Customs director Wan Jamal Abdul Salam Wan Long said that in the first seizure, on March 9, his team stopped a Toyota Hilux vehicle at 1.30 pm.

“Upon inspection, we found 57,200 sticks of cigarettes of various brands, valued at RM10,420, with the total seizure, including the truck and taxes, estimated at RM85,000,“ he said in a statement today.

Elaborating, he said that at about 2.30 pm the same day, the team raided a storage facility and found 765,200 sticks of cigarettes of various brands, with an estimated tax value of RM515,881.

“Investigations revealed that their modus operandi involved working with a group of distributors to supply the market in rural areas,“ he said.

The case is being investigated under Section 135(1)(e) and Section 135(1)(d) of the Customs Act 1967. The cigarettes are classified as prohibited import goods under Item 1, Schedule Three / Part II of the Customs (Prohibition on Import) Order 2023, he added.