JOHOR BARU, May 22 — The Johor Customs Department confiscated undeclared alcoholic beverages worth close to RM400,000 after a raid at a warehouse at an industrial area in Gelang Patah, Iskandar Puteri last month.
Johor Customs Department director Misbahudin Parmin said that no arrests were made during the raid on April 17 as the storage facility was empty.
"Based on our intelligence, we found a number of untaxed alcoholic beverages consisting of various brands that were hidden and have not passed customs clearance.
"A total of 5,502.30 litres of alcoholic beverage in 7,242 cans or bottles of various brands were seized and confiscated.
"We estimate that the untaxed alcoholic beverage was worth RM230,000 and the total duties and taxes involved amounted to RM167,000,” said Misbahudin during a press conference held at Menara Kastam here today.
Misbahudin said that officers are in the midst of identifying and tracking down the owner of the premises following the raid.
He said that the distributor’s modus operandi involved turning the warehouse into a storage area within an industrial zone to hide their activities from the authorities.
"The seized alcoholic beverages are believed to be brought in from abroad and for the domestic market,” he said.
The case is being investigated under Section 135 (1) (d) of the Customs Act 1967 for the offence of importing uncustomed and prohibited goods.
