KOTA BARU, April 9 — Kelantan Customs will take stern action against individuals and traders found selling contraband cigarettes through the ‘Ops Asap’ launched today.
Its state director Mohd Nasir Yusoff said Ops Asap would be conducted until year’s end.
“The department’s goal is to curb illegal sales of these cigarettes that are hazardous to the health of smokers as their contents are not known,” he told reporters here today.
He said initially the department would conduct checks on every premises in and around Kota Bharu identifed as those selling the contraband cigarettes, believed to be smuggled from the Malaysia-Thailand border, before extending the operation to other districts.
Under Section 135(1)(a) of the Customs Act 1967, any traders found selling contraband cigarettes could be imposed with a compound of RM5,000 for those not exceeding 10,000 sticks or prosecuted in court for an amounting exceeding 10,000 sticks upon conviction, he said.
So far this year, he said, Kelantan Customs detained 17 individuals in connection with contraband cigarettes with compounds totalling RM250,000 collected. — Bernama
