ALOR STAR, Dec 17 — Smuggling activities at the Malaysia-Thailand border, especially at Bukit Kayu Hitam and Kota Putera in Durian Burung is now dominated by syndicates based in the Klang Valley, according to the Kedah Anti-Smuggling Unit.
Its Commander Abdul Latif Abdul Rahman said the syndicate members were willing to travel nearly 1,000km to bring contraband goods like rice and petrol from the border to the Klang Valley.
The profit factor which has doubled appeals to syndicate members enabling them to risk difficulties and dangers in the face of the long journey.
“The syndicates’ masterminds spend a lot, for instance in smuggling rice, after which they will find lorries to carry these goods. The lorries are usually not from Kedah and if they are they will give deceptive addresses,” he told Bernama in a special interview today.
According to Abdul Latif, the syndicates dare to use 40-foot containers and trailers to go through the Customs, Immigration and Quarantine (CIQ) Complex and falsely declare the types of goods they were carrying.
The latest arrests at the Malaysia-Thailand border in Kota Putra involves three trailers, whereas in Bukit Kayu Hitam a container was involved with rice concealed beneath wooden planks, said Abdul Latif.
For the smuggling of fuel, he said the modus operandi of smugglers was to use tanker lorries without company logos.
The demand for and prices of ‘daun ketum’ is also high in Thailand, where it can be sold for RM100 per kg compared with RM50 per kg in Malaysia, thus contributing to smuggling.
Even when the ICQ closes at midnight, officials are still on duty to ensure no smuggling goes on, especially in the hotspot Duty Free Complex (KBC).
The oil palm plantation area behind the Duty Free Complex is often a hotbed of smuggling of goods such as ‘ganja’ (cannabis) and rice usually involving Malaysians.
This year, 124 cases were recorded, involving seizure and taxes worth RM3.2 million, compared with 137 cases involving seizures worth RM3.4 million last year.
From the total, the seizure of vehicles recorded the highest amount of RM2.6 million, followed by rice (RM255,000), diesel/petrol (RM92,178), liquor/tobacco (RM38,425), drug/ketum (RM47,130) and others. — Bernama
