PORT KLANG (July 23): The Royal Customs Department has foiled an attempt to smuggle in about 23 million white and kretek cigarettes in Port Klang here yesterday.

Central Zone Customs Department assistant director-general Datuk Abdul Wahabi Abdullah said the confiscated cigarettes which were kept in two containers were worth RM15.4 million.

He said early investigations found that the smuggling syndicate was believed to have brought the cigarettes in from Vietnam by declaring the containers as consolidated cargo to dupe the authorities.

He said a local man, 52 years, was also detained during the checks of the containers at about 5.30 pm yesterday.

“We are in the process of applying for a remand order for the man for further investigations. At the same time, we are tracking down a local woman aged 38, who was believed to have been involved in preparing the documents for the container.

“The owner of the container is being identified and further investigations are being carried out to find out if customs agents are involved in this smuggling attempt,” he said in a press conference here today.