SEREMBAN, Sept 18 — The Royal Malaysian Customs Department (JKDM) in Negeri Sembilan seized 65,000 litres of smuggled beer worth RM362,843, with an estimated tax valued at RM2 million in a raid on September 8.
State Customs director Mohammad Hafiz Ishak said the raid was carried out at an old warehouse in Jalan Puchong, Kuala Lumpur, at 12.30pm following public tip-off and intelligence.
The enforcement team also seized a Hitachi inkjet printer used to print the expiry date on the beer cans.
"Investigations revealed that the highly demanded beer was smuggled and stored in a warehouse in a remote area.
"We found that the beer cans had no expiry date and the syndicate had probably printed the expiry date on the back of each can using a printing machine in the warehouse," he told a press conference today.
Mohammad Hafiz said the modus operandi of the syndicate is to print the expiry date to confuse the authorities and the public before distributing or selling the alcoholic beverages imported from Asian and European countries in the local market at a cheap price.
No arrests have been made yet, but the authorities have identified the syndicate's mastermind.
— Bernama
