Seized: 17 vehicles in ‘furniture’ containers bound for export

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KLANG: The Customs Department has seized six containers loaded with 17 cars believed to be stolen and worth about RM1.4mil from North Port here.

Customs assistant director-general (enforcement) Datuk Zainul Abidin Taib said his men were alerted about the vehicles through an anonymous tip-off on Sept 14.

“Initial investigations revealed the containers had been falsely declared as carrying furniture and were bound for Laem Chabang, Thailand,” he told a press conference at the department headquarters here yesterday.

Zainul (opening car door) with other Customs officers checking some of the suspected stolen vehicles at the North Port Customs headquarters on Monday.

He said a scan revealed that the containers were carrying vehicles instead of furniture.

“Among the vehicles retrieved were a Toyota Fortuner, three Toyota Camry cars and 13 Toyota Hilux worth at least RM1.4mil,” he added.

Zainul said officers also raided several premises in Petaling Jaya and Rawang on Sept 16 and found two more containers which were believed to have been used to ship cars overseas.

“A 47-year-old forwarding agent was detained to facilitate investigations into the case,” he said.

“We are working closely with the police to determine the status of the retrieved vehicles,” he said.

Meanwhile in KOTA KINABALU, a man was detained after Customs officers busted a luxury car-smuggling operation in the interior town of Tenom.

Five cars worth over RM800,000 and 48 sets of parabolic satellite dishes were recovered from a secluded house in Kg Naluyan, which is about 170km from here.

Sabah Customs deputy director (enforcement and monitoring) Hamzah Sundang said they seized a Toyota Crown Athlete, valued at RM200,000, a RM180,000 Toyota Crown Royal Touring and three Toyota Crown Royal Saloon, each valued at RM150,000. The parabolic sets were valued at RM15,360.

Hamzah said the vehicles were smuggled into the state from a neighbouring country and were registered with the latest plate numbers to trick people into believing the cars were legal.

Hamzah urged people to be cautious when they are offered luxury cars at cheap prices and to check out the vehicle details thoroughly with the Road Transport Department and Puspakom.