KUALA TERENGGANU, April 10 — The Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) foiled an attempt to smuggle two million cigarettes worth RM1.2 million at the Sungai Setiu estuary in Setiu at around 5.30am yesterday.
Terengganu Maritime director Capt (maritime) Khairulanuar Abdul Majid said the smuggling activities were detected based on intelligence gathered for several days, adding that a maritime vessel conducted a special operation in Besut waters and channelled the information to personnel on land to make the seizure.
“A patrol detected a boat travelling in a suspicious manner that then tried to evade the patrol by ditching in shallow waters. The suspects on the boat then made their escape,” he said at a media conference at the Terengganu MMEA jetty here today.
Although the suspects managed to escape in the darkness, the maritime land team managed to locate a five-ton lorry around the Sungai Setiu estuary.
“Inspections revealed 200 boxes of smuggled cigarettes in the lorry and we are still looking for the smugglers,” he said. — Bernama
