PORT KLANG, Sept 29 — The Selangor Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) foiled an attempt to smuggle in 84,700 cigarette boxes worth more than RM1 million including taxes, at the Batu Laut beach in Tanjung Sepat, Banting, yesterday.
Selangor MMEA director Capt V. Siva Kumar said the success was the result of intelligence gathering and continuous surveillance by the agency's operations team on cigarette smuggling activities in Selangor waters.
"At around 6am yesterday, the MMEA's marine surveillance system detected a suspicious vessel moving in the waters of Tanjung Gabang.
"MMEA’s ‘Petir 83’ boat was then deployed to the location and came across a fishing boat suspected of carrying a load of cigarettes.
“The boat then fled to the waters of a neighbouring country," he said at a press conference here today.
Siva Kumar said the team then made an inspection around the Batu Laut beach and found two lorries at a river bank where the boat was believed to have docked earlier.
He said as soon as the two lorry drivers realised the presence of the MMEA boat, they escaped leaving their vehicles behind, and the team then found the contraband cigarettes believed to be smuggled from Indonesia, to be sold to the local market.
— Bernama
