Penang Customs thwarts RM5mil vape smuggling bid
BUTTERWORTH: The Penang Customs Department has thwarted an attempt to smuggle in over 80,000 vape pods and nearly 1,000 litres of vape liquid, worth a staggering RM5.1mil including taxes, into the country via Penang and Selangor.
Its director Rohaizad Ali said the first raid revealed that the illicit consignment had been declared as plastic materials and hidden among other imported goods in a bid to evade detection.
The first raid saw Customs officers inspecting a container at the North Butterworth Container Terminal at around 1.15pm on April 3.
'Our officers seized 14,200 unit of vape pods and 220 litres of vape liquid worth about RM1.5mil, including taxes,' he told a press conference yesterday.
Rohaizad added that during the raid, two men – a port agent and a Chinese national in their 30s – were detained.
In the second raid at Port Klang on April 10, Customs officers confiscated 71,886 vape pods and 786 litres of vape liquid and electronic gels worth about RM3.64mil.
A port agent was arrested to assist in investigations, said Rohaizad.
Meanwhile, the department also seized more than 18kg of ganja buds worth some RM1.8mil in separate operations in the state.
Rohaizad said on April 16, a team from the Customs narcotics unit conducted checks on parcels at Pos Malaysia's mail courier centre in Batu Kawan and discovered four packages containing dried plant material believed to be ganja buds.
He said the seized drugs weighed slightly over 2.2kg and were valued at RM219,128.
To avoid detection, the parcels were declared as containing nine units of 'comic books' and exported to the United Kingdom before being returned with the status of 'returned parcel'.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Star
9 hours ago
- The Star
Nine months' jail for former primary school teacher in Singapore who touched seven-year-old pupil in class
The father of three was given a discharge amounting to acquittal on two similar charges. -- ST PHOTO: KELVIN CHNG SINGAPORE (The Straits Times/ANN): A former primary school Chinese teacher has been sentenced to nine months' jail after he admitted to using criminal force on his pupil with the intention to outrage her modesty. The father of three was given a discharge amounting to acquittal on two similar charges. These charges were not read out in court. On June 20, District Judge Lim Tse Haw said the man, 38, had breached a sacred trust between him and his pupil – for whom he was the Chinese language and form teacher. Sometime around 2019, the seven-year-old pupil approached the man to find out the name of a song he played in class earlier. As she approached the man, who was sitting near the front of the classroom, he reached out and touched her underneath her school skirt. They were alone at the front of the class, as the other pupils were queuing to go for recess. After three years, she decided to confide her experience to the school's vice-principal in April 2022. A police report was made. The judge said: 'Teachers are held in high regard by society. By virtue of the trust we (place) in them to impart knowledge and good moral values in our students, parents therefore entrust their children in the good hands of our teachers for these reasons.' He pointed out that the pupil in this case was just seven years old. There is a gag order imposed to protect her identity. 'Although the touch was fleeting and did not intrude into her private parts, there was skin on skin contact with her inner thigh under her skirt – a sensitive part of the female body.' The judge added: 'The psychological harm, which included suicidal thoughts and potential problems with interpersonal relationships later in life, could be prolonged.' The Ministry of Education previously told The Straits Times that the man was dismissed in April 2022, and that he is no longer teaching in any school. For each count of molesting a child below 14 years old, an offender can be jailed for up to five years, fined, caned or receive any combination of such punishments. - The Straits Times/Asia News Network
The Star
a day ago
- The Star
MP, senator help accident victim
Compiled by FAZLEENA AZIZ, TAN SIN CHOW AND R. ARAVINTHAN AN accident victim in Jelutong, Penang, was surprised to see his MP and a senator pull over to help, Makkal Osai reported. Jelutong MP RSN Rayer and Senator Datuk Seri Dr RA Lingeshwaran were travelling in Jelutong when they saw the accident. They stopped and called for an ambulance, with Dr Lingeshwaran providing first aid to the victim. The senator is a medical doctor and was a director of Hospital Sungai Bakap prior to his appointment to the Dewan Negara. Rayer and Dr Lingeshwaran wished the accident victim, who did not sustain major injuries, a speedy recovery. > A man in India strangled his wife for having an affair and then staged her 'suicide', Malaysia Nanban reported. Muthupandian, 38, and Muthukumari, 28, from Tamil Nadu, got married 10 years ago and have two children. Muthukumari was caught having an affair four years ago and left the family briefly before reconciling with her husband. But he remained suspicious of her, which led to many arguments. Earlier this month, Muthupandian filed a police report claiming his wife had hung herself after an argument. The autopsy raised suspicions, and he eventually confessed to police that he had strangled his wife and staged the suicide. (The above articles are compiled from the vernacular newspapers (Bahasa Malaysia, Chinese and Tamil dailies). As such, stories are grouped according to the respective language/medium. Where a paragraph begins with a >, it denotes a separate news item.)
New Straits Times
a day ago
- New Straits Times
Chinese student gets life in UK jail for 'campaign of rape'
LONDON: A Chinese post-graduate student convicted of drugging and raping 10 women in the UK and China — and suspected of having attacked more — was on Thursday jailed for life by a London court. Police in London say they have evidence to suggest he may have targeted more than 50 other women. Serial rapist Zhenhao Zou, 28 — described in court as "calculated and predatory" — targeted young Chinese women whom he invited to his London flat for drinks or to study, before drugging and attacking them. Zou filmed nine of the rapes with hidden or handheld cameras, but only three of the 10 victims have ever been identified. Sentencing him at Inner London Crown Court, Judge Rosina Cottage said there was "no doubt that you planned and executed a campaign of rape" that had caused "devastating and long-term effects." To the world, he appeared "well-to-do, ambitious and charming," but this was a mask hiding a "sexual predator," she said. He treated his victims "callously" as "sex toys" for his own gratification, and his desire to assert "power and control over women" meant that he would be a "risk for an indefinite period," she added. Zou, wearing a dark suit and glasses, listened impassively in the dock to the sentence via a translator. He will serve a minimum of 22 years in jail, after accounting for time already spent in custody. The former engineering student at University College London was found guilty by a jury in March of 28 offences, including 11 counts of rape — with two of the counts relating to one woman — three counts of voyeurism, and one of false imprisonment. He was found guilty of raping three women in London and seven in China between 2019 and 2023. He was also convicted of three counts of possessing butanediol — an industrial solvent — with intent to commit a sexual offence, and 10 counts of possession of an extreme pornographic image. Victims told the sentencing hearing in impact statements of the psychological damage they suffered, including nightmares, self-harm, and a sense of despair and isolation. One recalled "wandering like a trapped animal trying to find an exit" after she was attacked. "What happened that night is etched into my soul forever," she said, adding that Zou's family was "very powerful in China" and she feared he would "seek revenge." After the sentence, Saira Pike of the Crown Prosecution Service described Zou as a "serial rapist and a danger to women." "His life sentence reflects the heinous acts and harm he caused to women and the danger he posed to society." Analysis of footage and web chats showed the former student's "meticulous planning and the horrifying execution of his crimes." Pike paid tribute to the "courageous women" who came forward to report his "horrific crimes," and whose evidence — combined with his own videos — helped secure his conviction and life sentence. Since he was convicted, and following an international appeal by UK police, some 24 women have come forward to say they might have been sexually assaulted by Zou. London's Met Police have said they have evidence to suggest he may have targeted more than 50 other women, and urged possible victims to come forward, adding that he had also studied in Belfast in Northern Ireland in 2017. "Our investigation remains open, and we continue to appeal to anyone who may think they have been a victim of Zou," said Commander Kevin Southworth of the Metropolitan Police. "Please come forward and speak with our team — we will treat you with empathy, kindness and respect."
