KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 21 — Police arrested nine men and seized thousands of bottles of contraband hard liquor estimated to be worth RM1.6 million stashed in a warehouse in Bandar Kinrara, Puchong last Saturday.
Bukit Aman Internal Security and Public Order Department director commissioner Datuk Seri Acryl Sani Abdullah Sani said police caught the men red handed placing fake stamp duty stickers on the bottles and loading them into two lorries for local distribution in the early morning raid on the warehouse.
Five of the nine men were Myanmar citizens.
“We found a total of 553 boxes of various liquor brands ready to be distributed and sold to local retailers at below market value,” he told a press conference at Bukit Jalil police station here.
He said the International Federation of Spirits Producers has since confirmed the seized bottles were contraband.
“Police also seized a total of 2,000 Customs stamp duty stickers believed to be fakes from the syndicate believe to be in operation for about two years now,” he said.
Some of the branded hard liquors seized were Jack Daniels, Chivas Regal, Bombay Sapphire, Bacardi, Jim Beam and Ballantine’s.
Acryl Sani said the police are stamping out smuggling activities nationwide as it jeopardises the country’s economy through unpaid duties.
“Therefore we welcome assistance and information from the public which may lead to the success of similar operations as the government has made it their focus to crackdown on illicit activities,” he said.
