ISKANDAR PUTERI, March 30 — The Johor Customs Department detected two separate attempts earlier this month to smuggle cigarettes without paying duties by declaring these as plastic goods and lamps at the Johor Port in Pasir Gudang.

Johor Customs Department director Misbahudin Parmin said enforcers inspecting cargo containers found two with items other than declared in their manifests, leading to the seizure of 1.5 million sticks of cigarettes valued at RM1.3 million.

"The inspection resulted in discovering that the goods in the container were not as declared in the Customs Department documents, which was supposed to be plastic goods,” he said of the first case on March 6.

"Upon further inspection, we found a number of untaxed white cigarettes estimated to be worth RM67,000 with duties and taxes amounting to RM402,000,” he told reporters at the Sungai Pulai Customs Department Enforcement Complex here today.

A local man in his 30s was arrested but has since been released on a RM50,000 bail.

The second case from March 15 was the result of a warehouse raid in the Johor Port, resulting in the seizure of cigarettes falsely declared as lamps that were valued at RM115,200 and would have attracted RM687,000 in taxes and duties, he said.

Misbahudin said a local man in his 40s had been arrested as the representative of the shipping firm, but was also released on bail with a RM40,000 bond.

The official said the seized cigarettes were believed to be transhipments from China headed for Australia, and both cases would be investigated under the Customs Act for smuggling.