By HAMDAN RAJA ABDULLAH
metrose@thestar.com.my
TANGKAK: The police busted a cigarette smuggling ring and at the same time, captured a man wanted since 2006.
The
28-year-old fugitive was arrested along with his 48-year-old friendwhen
police detained a lorry laden with smuggled cigarettes along Km173.5 of
the North-South Expressway near here on Tuesday.
Ledang police
chief Supt Harun Idris said his team spotted the 10-tonne truck at
3.35am along the highway near the Jasin exit and decided to stop it.
“We were shocked to see the truck filled with stacks of boxes containing League-brand cigarettes.
“The truck was carrying some 9,800 cartons of League cigarettes with unpaid duties totalling about RM1mil,” he added.
Supt Harun said the truck driver resides in Kuala Lumpur while his accomplice, the wanted man is from Negeri Sembilan.
Both had also tested negative for drugs.
He said the duo would be charged under Section 135(1) of the Customs Act 1967 for possessing contraband items with unpaid duty.
On
a separate matter, Supt Harun said police detained two men, both aged
21, and recovered a Proton Waja car which was reported stolen in Kuala
Lumpur earlier this year.
The men, one from Negri Sembilan and
while the other is a resident in Skudai in Johor Baru, were arrested
after a highway patrol unit chased them from the Tangkak - Jasin border
to the town on July 25.
He said one of them is employed as a computer technician while the other is a truck driver with three previous criminal records.
Both would be referred to the Dang Wangi police station in Kuala Lumpur where they are expected to be charged.
The
district police had also succeeded in arresting three 17-year-old
youths and an Indonesian foreign worker for possession of stolen
motorbikes.
“Two of the youths were arrested while riding a
motorcycle which had been reported stolen in Muar while the Indonesian
worker for having a motorcycle with tampered engine and chassis
numbers,” added Supt Harun.
SOURCE: THE STAR, AUG 30, 2012