The smuggling ring in Sabah may have been dismantled by the police following the discovery of illegal cigarettes valued at about RM250,000 in a house in Penampang.
The Sabah Criminal Investigation Department (CID) special investigation (D9) unit apprehended two men at the Taman Oriental residence, and the seizure of the contraband caused them to believe the operation was taken down.
Sabah CID chief Senior Asst Comm Azmi Abd Rahim reported that they received information and proceeded to raid the house at 6.20am on Friday.
“Upon checking the house, we found 445 boxes containing 1,132,800 cigarette sticks,” he said. “We estimate the contraband items to be worth about RM250,000.”
The 48-year-old owner of the house and his 26-year-old Filipino worker were among the individuals apprehended.
“We believe the house was used to store the illicit cigarettes,” added SAC Azmi.
Upon further questioning, it was discovered that the cigarettes were sourced from different locations such as the Sarawak border town of Lawas and Labuan.
The suspects would allegedly keep the items at the house before distributing them for sale in the Sabah capital.
“Investigations are ongoing to identify other individuals involved in the activity,” he said, classifying the probe under Section 135(1)(d) of the Customs Act 1967.
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