KLANG, Aug 15 — Customs officers got more than they bargained for when they opened a container at North Port Free Zone here and found 1,240 sex toys among its contents.

The shipment, which also contained other items, was seized after arriving in Malaysia from another Asian country on May 21, with the sex toys estimated to be worth about RM52,500, The Star reported.

"The items in the container were falsely declared as chairs, waist bags, stainless steel tumblers and underwear to avoid detection,” Selangor Customs Department director Noraidah Ishak told a news conference at the department headquarters here yesterday.

She said investigations were underway to identify the intended recipient of the shipment, adding that the haul was the department’s first seizure of sex toys this year.

"We believe the items were intended for the local market,” she added.

The department also detected more than RM40 million worth of contraband in three separate operations involving illegal waste, liquor and cigarettes.

Noraidah said the department seized 57 containers of illegal waste in the first half of this year, comprising 351,185kg of metal scrap in 13 containers and 841,552.50kg of plastic scrap in 44 containers.

"Checks showed that 13 containers had 351,185kg of metal scrap and 44 containers held 841,552.50kg of plastic scrap. All containers had no import permits,” she said.

The waste, estimated to be worth about RM5 million including duties and taxes, had been declared as copper concentrate and aluminium materials.

In another case, Customs seized a container carrying 1,578 litres of liquor hidden among auto parts, which arrived at Port Klang on April 27.

With the unpaid duties, the alcohol was estimated to be worth RM409,917, Noraidah said.

In the third case, eight containers seized on June 3 and 10 were found to contain 48.78 million cigarettes, valued to be worth RM37,560,600 with duties and taxes added.