PORT KLANG: The Royal Malaysian Customs Department (JKDM) seized luxury vehicles, alcoholic beverages, scrap metal, e-waste and several other commodities worth RM30.4 million in raids at Port Klang between August and Oct 4.

JKDM director-general Datuk Anis Rizana Mohd Zainudin said the seizures by Selangor customs included six imported luxury vehicles worth RM794,000, found in five containers at West and North Ports on Aug 22.

She said preliminary investigations revealed all the vehicles, believed to have originated from East Asia, arrived at the port on July 17 without the required import permits from the Ministry of Investment, Trade and Industry (MITI).

“The importation of vehicles is subject to import permits issued by MITI, as outlined in Item 3(2), Part 1, Second Schedule, Customs Order (Prohibition of Imports) 2023,“ she said at a press conference here today.

In the case of the alcoholic beverages, Anis Rizana said an inspection of five containers at North and West Ports on Sept 26 led to the seizure of 79,104 litres of alcohol worth RM3.11 million, believed imported from East Asia and falsely declared as truck steel rims and photo albums.

She added that JKDM also seized about 1,098 tonnes of scrap metal valued at RM13.2 million, after confiscating 44 containers which originated from a country in the Americas at West Port on Sept 5.

Anis Rizana explained that the importation of scrap metal is subject to import permits issued by the Malaysian Standards and Industrial Research Institute (SIRIM), as stipulated in Item 5, Part 1, Fourth Schedule, Customs Order (Prohibition of Imports) 2023.

“The scrap metal was falsely declared as aluminium alloy, aluminium flakes and copper flakes to avoid the requirement for import permits,“ she said.

Additionally, through Ops E-Waste, JKDM, in collaboration with the Department of Environment, prevented a revenue loss of RM558,579 by seizing about 2,119 tonnes of e-waste worth RM5.59 million at West Port.

She noted that the e-waste, which did not have the necessary approval for entry into the country for processing, was found in 107 containers during operations conducted from Aug 17 to Oct 4.

Selangor customs also foiled bids to bring in undenatured ethyl alcohol (96 per cent), white cigarettes, kretek cigarettes and alcoholic beverages, all worth about RM7.15 million.