Malaysia: Customs Launch Ops Outlet 2014 To Combat Illicit Cigarettes Trade

Source from:  BERNAMA (Malaysian National News Agency) (my)  03/06/2014

The Customs Department launched "Ops Outlet 2014" today to combat the sale of contraband cigarettes.

Its director general Datuk Khazali Ahmad said the operation involving the Ministry of Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism would not only focus on dealers, retailers and distributors, but also buyers.

He said Ops Outlet 2014 would be more aggressive with the setting up of a Strike Team Unit involving 200 members throughout the country.

"This team will move as a fast action team. They have Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to meet," he told reporters after launching the operation here Wednesday.

Khazali said Ops Outlet was a continuation of a series operations previously carried out in February 2010. He also said the department had inspected a total of 35,648 outlets since 2010, with 6,440 cases involving confiscation, valued at RM59.0 million.

Khazali said a total of 752 of 4,744 individuals (suspected of being involved in various customs offences) had also been charged in court.

"The smuggling of cigarettes is causing a loss of revenue amounting to RM1.9 billion per year," he said.

"In this Ops Outlet customs will also seek the cooperation of other law enforcement agencies such as the local authorities, Royal Malaysia Police and the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA)," he said.

He said to effectively address the issue, the customs was also requesting for remand orders from court for further investigation on suspected individuals committed customs' offences. Enditem