KUALA LUMPUR, March 18 — Putrajaya destroyed RM48 million worth of contraband items out of a total worth of RM727 million that were seized last year, the Finance Ministry said today.

Finance Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak said in a written parliamentary reply to Bakri MP Er Teck Hua that less than 9.3 per cent were contraband cigarettes while less than 1.4 per cent were banned fireworks. There was no mention of the other items seized.

Najib also said the value of contraband items increased from RM603 million in 2012 to RM646.5 million in 2013 and to RM726.6 million last year.

Meanwhile, the value of contraband items destroyed went down from RM93.5 million in 2012, to RM60.3 million in 2013 and to RM47.7 million last year.

No explanation was given for the varying numbers and it is unclear what happened to the rest of the items seized by authorities.

“As much as 19,248 people were investigated from 2010 to 2014 involving 2,563 prosecutions,” he said.

The Pekan MP also said the number of cases with sentencing rose from 395 in 2012, to 515 in 203 and 1,301 last year.

Individuals from four cases were freed during those years, he added.