logo
Customs seizes near RM10mil in vapes and liquid

Customs seizes near RM10mil in vapes and liquid

The Star05-06-2025

BUTTERWORTH: More than 80,000 vapes and almost 1000litre of vapes liquid worth RM5.1mil have been seized by the Customs Department in separate raids in Penang and Selangor.
Penang Customs Department director Rohaizad Ali said all the seized items were believed to have been brought into the country from China for the local market.
"In the first raid at North Butterworth Container Terminal around 1.15pm on April 3, Customs seized 14,200 unit of vapes and 220-litre of vapes liquid worth about RM1.5mil including tax," he told a press conference at the Bagan Jermal Enforcement Storage Facility on Thursday.
He said further checks on the container revealed that the items had been declared as plastic material along with other imported merchandise.
He said two men, a port agent and a Chinese national in their 30s, were detained during the raid.
He said the Chinese national admitted to owning the container which held other imported items.
Rohaizad said that in the second raid conducted at Port Klang, Customs confiscated 71,886 vape units and 786-litre of vape liquid and electronic gels around 11am on April 10.
"The seized items were worth about RM4.64mil inclusive of taxes," he added.
He said both cases are being investigated under Section 133(1)(a) of the Customs Act 1967.

Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Chinese student jailed for 24 years for raping women in UK and China
Chinese student jailed for 24 years for raping women in UK and China

The Star

time2 hours ago

  • The Star

Chinese student jailed for 24 years for raping women in UK and China

henhao Zou, a Chinese student who was found guilty by a London court of drugging and raping 10 women in Britain and China, as seen n in this handout picture released on March 5, 2025. -- Photo by Reuters LONDON (Reuters): A Chinese student convicted of drugging and raping 10 women in Britain and China was jailed on Thursday for 24 years in a London court. Zhenhao Zou, 28, who lived in south London, used online platforms and dating apps to meet women, inviting them to his home under the pretext of having drinks or studying before he drugged them. He then filmed himself raping and sexually assaulting the women while they were unconscious, keeping some of their jewellery and clothing afterwards. Zou was found guilty in March of 28 offences, including 11 counts of rape, after a trial at Inner London Crown Court. At Thursday's sentencing he was jailed for life, with a minimum term of 24 years, minus time he had already spent in custody. Judge Rosina Cottage said Zou was "a highly manipulative and intelligent young man who gave no thought at all of the wishes and feelings of the women" he attacked. Detective Inspector Richard MacKenzie from London's Metropolitan Police said outside court: "The sheer scale of his offending, which spanned two countries, makes him one of the most prolific predators we have ever seen." The police previously said detectives believe there may be more than 50 other women who may have been victims of Zou and have not yet been identified. Originally from Dongguan in Guangdong Province, the student is thought to have moved to the United Kingdom in 2017 and began studying for a PhD at University College London in 2019. After a woman came forward to report Zou, police said they found drugs and hidden cameras in his home, while hundreds of videos and millions of messages on his laptops and phones showed that he had committed offences not just in Britain but in his homeland. -- Reporting by Sam Tobin/Reuters

Immigration Dept raid e-waste facility and scam centres in Klang Valley, 48 nabbed
Immigration Dept raid e-waste facility and scam centres in Klang Valley, 48 nabbed

The Star

time9 hours ago

  • The Star

Immigration Dept raid e-waste facility and scam centres in Klang Valley, 48 nabbed

PETALING JAYA: Mass raids against e-waste recycling activities and scams have led to the arrest of 48 foreigners. Immigration Department director-general Datuk Zakaria Shaaban stated on Sunday that the raids were conducted at an e-waste facility in Pulau Indah, as well as several homes in Kajang and Kuala Lumpur used by foreigners as operation centres for scams. "The raids were the result of action on public complaints and our own intelligence conducted over around two weeks. Checks led to the arrest of 39 foreigners; four men and 12 women from China and 27 Bangladeshi men. All were aged between 25 and 49 years old," he said. The raids at homes also led to the arrest of nine more Chinese and Taiwanese nationals, including a four-year-old child. "All have been detained and placed at the Machap Umboo immigration depot for further investigation," he added.

NST Leader: E-waste land
NST Leader: E-waste land

New Straits Times

timea day ago

  • New Straits Times

NST Leader: E-waste land

MALAYSIA doesn't want to be an e-waste garbage bin for the world, but it just can't help being one. Year after year, an estimated one thousand containers make it past our seaports. Some through our porous land and maritime borders. The Customs Department tells us that importers — or are they smugglers? — are bringing in the containers by falsely declaring them to contain anything but e-waste. Some containers don't make it through the inspection of the department, but many do. How many is anyone's guess. The hundreds of illegal e-waste factories throughout the country give a picture of the number of containers that made it undetected. Some are hidden in plantations; others operate openly, in plain sight, visible to the eyes of the authorities. The most recent raids from June 16 to June 19 by 12 agencies on 57 premises in a nationwide crackdown show how bad a crisis the illegal e-waste smuggling is. The police, which led the raids in collaboration with the Department of Environment and Inland Revenue Board, estimated the seizures and revenue loss to the government to be RM1.003 billion. The 57 raided premises were almost a national affair, with 16 in Selangor, 12 in Sabah, six each in Kedah and Sarawak, five each in Perak and Johor, four in Penang, two in Kelantan and one in Terengganu. The raids also yielded 453 arrests, with only 41 Malaysians being nabbed. The rest were from the usual suspects: China, Myanmar, Bangladesh, India, Cambodia, the Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia, Pakistan and Nepal. From Jan 1 last year to June 19, the police arrested 1,061 people. This should frighten the nation into action before the crisis becomes a catastrophe. But the authorities appear to be facing, not insurmountable, but surmountable hurdles. One such revealed itself when the crackdown was launched. Although police intelligence revealed that more than 57 premises were operating illegally, many were found closed on the day of the raids. This, according to Federal Internal Security and Public Order Department director Datuk Seri Azmi Abu Kassim, raises concerns as to whether some operators may have been tipped off, the New Straits Times quoted him as saying. Enemies within aren't new threats for enforcement units. But which of the 12 agencies leaked it would be something for the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission to uncover. Punishment not matching the crime is another hurdle. Consider the Customs Act 1967. Anyone making false declarations can be fined up to RM500,000 or imprisoned for up to seven years, or both. A fine of RM500,000 is just a trifling sum for smugglers. Be that as it may, how many "importers" have been slapped with a RM500,000 fine or a seven-year imprisonment? As unheard of as hen's teeth. The Customs Department must do better by convincing the court to impose the maximum of punishment because illegal e-waste smuggling is a national crisis. While the government must provide the enforcers and regulators with the necessary resources to do a good job, they, too, have to go on an internal journey to weed out corrupt officers. Robust enforcement is not possible any other way. Absent this, containers of illegal e-waste will keep arriving on our shores, turning the crisis into a meltdown.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store