Johor Customs smokes out cigarette smuggling attempt

The Johor Customs Department has smoked out an attempt by a local syndicate to smuggle cigarettes into the country.

This followed the seizure of the contraband worth about RM516,680 last Saturday, and arrest of a lorry driver.

The 5.76 million sticks of cigarettes were meant for northern states when a team of enforcement officers seized the 12-tonne lorry which was ferrying the contraband.

The 48-year-old suspect was detained in connection with the seizure in the incident at the rest and recreation bylay in Ayer Keroh at 12.15pm.

Johor Customs Department director Datuk Ramli Johari said the seized lorry was fully covered with canvas to conceal the cigarettes to prevent detection by the authorities.

He said the contraband weighed about 9,000kg and was smuggled by a Johor Baharu-based syndicate for distribution in the northern states.

"The lorry driver has been remanded for 10 days to facilitate investigations into smuggling activities in the state," he told a press conference today.