PETALING JAYA: The New Zealand Customs Service is increasingly concerned about the record volume of illegal cigarettes entering the country through Malaysian criminal syndicates, with around seven million cigarettes intercepted in Auckland over the past six weeks alone.
In an interview with FMT, New Zealand Customs Service investigations manager Bruce Berry said 6.9 million cigarettes were part of three separate interceptions from mid-July to late-August, all of which are believed to be linked to the same criminal syndicate operating out of Malaysia.
“This, by New Zealand standards, is large scale. We are not used to seeing large containers (of illegal cigarettes) from Malaysia,” Berry told FMT.
“Generally, illegal cigarettes in New Zealand come from China and are not particularly well hidden.
“But in these (Malaysian) cases, the cigarettes were hidden in construction material that was specifically designed and built to conceal (the cigarettes). This is sophisticated concealment.
“The volume that was imported, and the type of concealment, also shows that this is an organised and well-coordinated smuggling enterprise,” he added.
While Berry said the emergence of Malaysian cigarette smugglers was hardly surprising as Malaysian syndicates are already involved in trafficking drugs and smuggling illegal immigrants, he said this was the first time the customs agency had seen cigarettes smuggled on such a large scale.
In a record seizure at the time, 2.2 million cigarettes were found in Auckland in July inside the stacks of metal frames sent from Malaysia and declared as roof extension units.
The country’s previous largest seizure of tobacco in a single shipment was 340,000 cigarettes in late 2018.
Cigarette prices in New Zealand are amongst the highest in the world and illicit cigarettes are seen as a lucrative trade for criminal syndicates – with the country losing approximately NZ$287.4 million (RM796.8 million) in taxes to the tobacco black market last year.
Berry said Australia had seen large scale illegal cigarette importation over many years, and it is believed that the same criminal groups targeting Australia are now targeting New Zealand.
After the New Zealand Customs Service intercepted 2.2 million cigarettes from Malaysia in mid-July, it stopped another shipment of 2.39 million cigarettes in early-August and halted a third shipment of 2.31 million cigarettes in late-August.
The evaded duty and GST for these three seizures amounted to NZ$8.52 million (RM23.58 million).
Four Malaysians have been arrested in relation to these three seizures, with two released on bail and another two in police custody.
“We have advised Malaysian police and customs authorities on these arrests and we are in the process of placing a New Zealand Customs Service officer as a liaison officer in Kuala Lumpur, but the process has been delayed because of Covid-19,” said Berry.
“He has been acting as an intermediary to make sure information is being passed to Malaysian authorities, and it’s important for New Zealand Customs Service to work hard with Malaysian authorities to disrupt the supply chain (of illegal cigarettes).”
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