KUALA LUMPUR, March 27 — Agriculture and Agro-based Industry Ministry enforcement officers have seized at a godown in Klang 37 tonnes of rice believed to have been smuggled into the country.

Principal assistant secretary Wan Abdul Hadi Wan Mohd Shafie of the Paddy and Rice Regulatory Section of the ministry said today the officers moved in to make the seizure yesterday morning as workers began to load the sacks of rice onto a lorry.

The workers were unaware that the officers had been keeping the godown under surveillance overnight, he said in a statement.

“A preliminary investigation shows that the godown has engaged in rice trading and rice storing without the necessary licences,” he said. — Bernama