KUCHING: The Ministry of Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs (KPDNHEP) Sarawak thwarted a smoke candy distribution chain called ‘Ghost Smoke’ in the state.
Its deputy director and head enforcement officer Mohd Hanizam Kechik said this was following the seizure of the said product at a warehouse in SMI Industrial Park, Demak Laut, believed to be the main wholesaler of the product.
“Today (yesterday) we storm the largest wholesaler premises in Sarawak and seized 792 boxes of candy. A box contains 24 packets.
“The product was obtained from Peninsular Malaysia during the last three to four months,” he told a press conference at the KPDNHEP headquarters here yesterday.
According to Mohd Hanizam, the seizure was the second after they had seized 14 boxes of the candy from premises at Jalan Datuk Tawi Sli on Wednesday.
“A total of 1,128 packets were seized from both cases, with an estimated worth of RM336,” he said, adding that the retail price for the candy pack is about 70 sen.
Meanwhile, he said that the department had inspected 110 premises throughout Sarawak within three days.
He said although it is the biggest seizure, the state KPDNHEP would continue to conduct operations and monitoring the matter to ensure that no candy is sold in the state.
He added that an intelligence team will be deployed to monitor through various platforms, including social media to track the sale of the candy.
“We have intensified our inspections by concentrating on premises operating around schools. As of now, no premises have been detected selling such products,” he said.
Hanizam also urged the public to provide information to KPDNHEP if they happen to come across the candy being sold in their respective areas.
