Senior customs officer gets bullets in threat letter

KUALA LUMPUR: A senior Sarawak Customs officer received a death threat when a letter containing two bullets was found at his house’s parking lot on Thursday (Nov 26).

Malaysian Royal Customs Department director-general Datuk Seri Abdul Latif Abdul Kadir said it was believed to have been sent in connection with his officer’s involvement in conducting operations at the Rajang Port and Bintulu Port in Sarawak from Oct 21 to Nov 13.

He said the envelope, which had the word ‘death’ on it and a note written in red saying “Got two bullet one short one long which one you want (sic)," was found by the officer around 11.30 am on Thursday.

He said that the closed-circuit television (CCTV) camera recordings showed a man getting out of a car in front of the officer’s house before throwing something into the parking lot at around 7.15 pm on Wednesday (Nov 25).

Abdul Latif said in a statement that the officer had lodged a police report about the incident to ensure his and his family’s safety, adding that police went to the house to conduct an investigation on the same day.

According to him, a similar note was previously found at the house of the officer’s front neighbour and he did not rule out the possibility that that too might have been directed at the officer.

"The senior officer’s neighbour lodged a report and informed the Customs officer about the incident,” he said.

Abdul Latif thanked police for their efforts in handling the issue, and for having successfully detained three individuals to assist in investigations.

He stressed that his department would continue to uphold the country’s security through tight enforcement and would not compromise with threats from any element out to disrupt the sovereignty and security of the country.

"The Customs Department takes seriously any form of intimidation or threat to its officers,” he said.

The operations at the two ports led to the successful seizure of goods worth around RM2.64 million as well as tax and duties estimated at RM655,301.

-- BERNAMA