Pengkalan hulu: Police seized suspected smuggled cigarettes and liquor worth RM64,811.80 and arrested four people in three separate raids under Ops Kontraban Mega in Pengkalan Hulu and Gerik yesterday.

According to BERNAMA News Agency, Perak police chief Datuk Mohd Alwi Zainal Abidin said the operation was conducted by the Criminal Investigation Department along with the Internal Security and Public Order Department (KDNKA) of the Pengkalan Hulu and Gerik District Police Headquarters (IPD). The raids resulted in the arrest of two local men and two local women.

The first raid took place at a business premises in Jalan Taufil, where liquor worth RM3,917 and cigarettes worth RM28,200 were discovered hidden beneath grocery shelves. This led to the arrest of two local women, aged 57 and 44.

"The second raid at a shop in Jalan Iskandar led to the arrest of the 36-year-old owner and the seizure of liquor and cigarettes worth RM32,649.80," Mohd Alwi Zainal Abidin mentioned in a statement today.

In the third raid, police intercepted a silver Toyota Vios along Jalan Kampung Padang Kunyit. They found 100 cartons of duty-unpaid cigarettes, resulting in the arrest of the 39-year-old driver and the seizure of the vehicle.

All cases are currently being investigated under Section 135(1)(d) of the Customs Act 1967. The seized items will be handed over to the Royal Malaysian Customs Department and sent to the Department of Chemistry Malaysia for analysis.