KUCHING: The Sarawak General Operations Force (GOF) Brigade seized RM992, 350 worth of contraband cigarettes and beer here on Wednesday (Sept 16).
According to the 11th Battalion commanding officer, Supt Rosdi Inai, the goods were seized from a house at Jalan Lapangan Terbang here.
He said 16 personnel from the 11th Battalion were involved in the ‘Ops Libas’ raid around 10.30am.
“We arrested two local men in the house and found a van carrying 65 cartons of beer and 6,000 cartons (1,200,000 sticks of cigarettes), believed to be smuggled in from a neighbouring country.
“Further inspection found that the owners of the house, aged 20 to 55, failed to produce any legal documents for the items.
“As a result of the information obtained, this item are believed to be smuggled in from a neighboring country by road and will be marketed around Kuching,” said Rosdi in a statement on Thursday (Sept 17).
The suspects and seized goods have been handed over to Kuching Police District Headquarters for further investigations under Section 135 (1) of the Customs Act 1967.
If convicted, an offender can be fined a minimum value that is ten times the value of the goods and a maximum value of 20 times the value of goods or jailed for three years.
Rosdi also advised the public to always cooperate with the authorities, especially the police, to control smuggling activities or other any criminal activities.
