Kuala lumpur: The Royal Malaysian Customs Department (JKDM) seized white cigarettes and kretek (clove cigarettes) worth RM807,718.12, including taxes, in four separate raids conducted between April 16 and May 3.

According to BERNAMA News Agency, Terengganu JKDM director Hasbollah Din detailed the operations, revealing that the first raid on April 16 resulted in the arrest of two men as they were unloading boxes of cigarettes from two vehicles into a shop in the Besut district around 12:45 am. The inspection uncovered 10,000 cigarettes valued at approximately RM9,020, including taxes. The authorities also confiscated the two vehicles, and the suspects were charged at the Besut Magistrate's Court on April 22. Hasbollah noted that the syndicate's strategy involved distributing untaxed cigarettes to business premises at midnight to avoid detection.

The second raid, conducted on April 20 under Ops Peteh, led to the seizure of 400,000 white cigarettes with an estimated value of RM321,200 at an abandoned construction site in Besut. The smugglers reportedly utilized abandoned cabins as storage for the undeclared cigarettes to evade authorities.

Hasbollah also reported that the third operation on April 25 in the Pasir Pekan area of Kota Bharu, Kelantan, resulted in the confiscation of white cigarettes worth RM182,600, including tax. During a raid at approximately 8:30 pm, the JKDM Marine Enforcement Team pursued a vehicle suspected of carrying smuggled cigarettes along riverbanks. Although the driver escaped after abandoning the vehicle in the Wakaf Bharu area, the authorities recovered 200,000 white cigarettes from the vehicle.

The fourth raid occurred on May 3 around 12:30 am at a residence in Kota Bharu. JKDM seized 334,736 white cigarettes and kretek, along with a Nissan Navara four-wheel drive vehicle. The contraband, estimated to be worth RM294,898.12 including tax, was stored in the residence, which was believed to be a temporary storage site before distribution to the local market.