Penang customs raided a liquor-processing store in an oil palm plantation, seizing over 10,000 bottles of whisky and fake tax stamps worth RM717,963.
BUTTERWORTH: The Penang Royal Malaysian Customs Department has seized illicit liquor and counterfeit tax stamps worth over RM717,000 from a store hidden within an oil palm plantation.
The raid on the premises in Sungai Dua followed intelligence gathering and public tip-offs.
Customs director Datuk Rohaizad Ali said the team discovered a tank filled with ethanol and various liquor-processing equipment.
They also found rolls of fake customs tax stamps, packaging equipment, capping machines and label applicators.
A total of 10,391 bottles, or 4,208.7 litres, of suspected undeclared whisky was confiscated.
The total seizure value is RM717,963, which includes RM516,072 in evaded excise duty.
Rohaizad noted that some of the seized bottles had been stamped with counterfeit customs duty.
The premises was unoccupied at the time of the enforcement operation.
Investigations are ongoing to identify the owner, with utility bills indicating the site is registered to a Malaysian.
The case is being probed under sections 20(1) and 74(1)(f) of the Excise Act 1976.
