LUMUT, Jan 6 — Police arrested three men and seized 24,790 cartons of contraband cigarettes of various brands worth RM1.1 million by the roadside at Kampung Bharu, here, yesterday.

Manjung police chief ACP Nor Omar Sappi said the three suspects, aged between 29 and 56, were arrested while driving two lorries and a Perodua Kancil car believed to be heading from Segari to Manjung, at about 12.30am, following two weeks of intelligence gathering.

Nor Omar said further inspection found 377 boxes containing 24,790 cartons of cigarettes in the two lorries.

“The lorries were driven by two men aged 30 and 56 respectively, while the 29-year-old car driver ensured that no authorities or roadblocks were imposed along the road.

“We also confiscated more than RM5,000 and five mobile phones believed to be used to communicate with the syndicate,” he said during a press conference at the Manjung district police headquarters (IPD) here today.

Nor Omar said further investigations would be done to determine if the three suspects were just “transporters” or involved with a smuggling syndicate.

“As a result of the preliminary investigation, they (three men) claimed that they only received RM5,000 for each trip of delivering the goods to the designated destination.

“A check found that the two lorries were registered under the names of companies located in Batu Caves and Petaling Jaya, Selangor, and we will conduct a thorough investigation,” he said.

Nor Omar said this was the largest seizure involving cigarettes in the past three years, and further checks found that the two lorry drivers had past criminal and drug records.

“The three suspects were remanded for seven days until January 11, and the case is being investigated according to Section 135 (1) (d) of the Customs Act 1967.

“The police will continue to step up efforts in terms of conducting operations and raids, and will not compromise with any party in curbing the distribution or selling of contraband cigarettes in Manjung. We also welcome any information from the public,” he said.

In another development, Nor Omar said his department would seek the assistance of the International Police (Interpol) and the Embassy of the Republic of Indonesia to look for the next of kin of four bodies found floating without any identification documents on them in the waters of Pulau Jarak, Pulau Pangkor, here, on December 30.

He said the four unclaimed bodies were placed in the Seri Manjung Hospital Mortuary, and he believed that the four bodies were of non-citizens due to the lack of BCG (Bacillus Calmette Guerin) immunisation on them.

“We know there was a boat sinking incident reported in Sekinchan, Selangor, so we do not rule out if (the four bodies are of victims from the incident) but we are not certain about it yet.

“Therefore, we will contact Interpol and the embassy to help trace the next of kin and still (need) to wait for confirmation from the embassy,” he said.

Earlier, the media reported that the four bodies were found floating in the waters of Pulau Jarak, Pulau Pangkor, and the police also confirmed that the victims’ deaths did not involve any criminal elements.

Perak police chief Datuk Mior Faridalathrash Wahid reportedly said that the four bodies were believed to be of Indonesians. — Bernama