Cops Seize Contraband Fags, Tobacco

Source from:  By KULDEEP S. JESSY Monday December 31, 2007 01/02/2008

KUALA LUMPUR: Police seized contraband cigarettes and tobacco worth RM35,000 from a store in Sentul here and detained four people including a woman, believed to be the mastermind. Sentul OCPD Asst Comm Ahmad Sofian Md Yassin said a team from the Commercial Crime Department headed by Chief Insp Wee Bee Seng raided a store in Jalan Segambut at about 7.15pm on Sunday, after carrying out surveillance on it for several days. He said three men including two Myanmar citizens who were in the midst of loading several boxes into a van were detained by the raiding team after they were found behaving suspiciously. "As the team was in the midst of arresting the three men, a woman believed to be the mastermind and the employer of the three men tried to flee the store by driving out in a car. "However, the police team managed to prevent her from doing so and apprehended her too,'' he said here Monday. ACP Ahmad Sofian said upon checking the store, the police team recovered 1,840 boxes of Nepalese cigarettes, 72,000 packets of Indian tobacco and 28 sacks of unbranded tobacco. He said the police team also recovered a van and a car believed to have been used by the suspects to distribute the contraband to their clients. ACP Ahmad Sofian said that the woman, who is married and has three children, was believed to be the leader of the group. The woman who is from Kedah, is believed to be linked to a syndicate smuggling the contraband into the country. "Investigations showed that the suspects had been involved in smuggling activities for the past two years. "Our investigations also show that the contraband was distributed mainly to shops and restaurants in the Klang Valley as there was demand for the contraband due to the high number of Nepalese and Indian nationals in the country,'' said ACP Ahmad Sofian. He added that the four suspects aged between 20 and 40 including the two Myanmar citizens who did not possess any valid travel documents have been handed over to the Customs Department for further investigations for possession of undeclared goods under Section 135(i)(d) of the Customs Act. Enditem