MALAYSIA’S illicit cigarette trade is adapting rather than retreating despite intensified enforcement across the country, according to former Sarawak police chief Datuk Dr Yusoff Nook, who said seizures are rising but the underlying market remains resilient.
His comments come after a series of recent Ops Taring Alpha operations in the Klang Valley, Sabah and Sarawak, which have resulted in millions of ringgit worth of seizures.
Bukit Aman’s Wildlife Crime Bureau/Special Intelligence Investigation (WCB/PSK), led by newly appointed director Datuk Mohd Zaki Ashar, has recorded 13 cases, 17 arrests and RM9.61 mil in seizures since Ops Taring Alpha 1 began.
The haul included RM1.49 mil worth of contraband seized in Semenyih and Damansara Damai on Aug 15, followed by RM1.66 mil in Desa Petaling and Putra Heights on Aug 17.
The pattern has also been seen in East Malaysia.
In Sarawak, a parallel Ops Taring Alpha operation across 11 districts, from Kuching to Miri and Bintulu, recovered RM1.94 mil worth of cigarettes and other contraband between Aug 1 and 13.
In Sabah, marine police seized 134,600 smuggled cigarette sticks worth more than RM167,000 in Tenom in July, part of an operation that has recorded 44 cases and RM6.21 mil in seizures since January.
“Our enforcement agencies have earned real credit this year, from more raids to faster, intelligence-led operations across the Klang Valley, Sabah and Sarawak,” said Yusoff, who is also a qualified lawyer and economic crime control expert.
“But the modus operandi keeps changing. Every time enforcement closes one route, the trade finds another.”
He said the persistence of these networks, despite stronger enforcement, reflects a pattern he has highlighted since the start of the year: arrests and seizures are increasing, but the illegal market has not meaningfully shrunk.
“That effort should be acknowledged. But if the market these networks serve is still there, enforcement can’t win this fight on its own,” he added.
Yusoff pointed to a recent Wawasanex consumer survey, which found that 91% of Malaysians who had purchased illicit cigarettes cited price as their main reason, while 75% said they were easy to obtain.
He said the findings suggest the problem is driven as much by affordability and accessibility as by supply.
“As long as illegal cigarettes are cheaper and easier to get than legal ones, we’ll keep having this conversation every few months, just with a different location in the headline,” he noted.
“This isn’t an enforcement failure. It’s a market and behavioural reality that needs addressing.”
With Budget 2027 expected to be tabled in early October, Yusoff urged the Finance Ministry to hold off on further excise duty increases on legal cigarettes until it reviews whether widening price gaps are pushing consumers towards illegal products.
“We already know what’s driving buyers to the illegal market: price and access. Raise the price of legal cigarettes further without a plan to address illicits, and we widen the very gap that is pushing more Malaysians toward the illegal alternative,” he stressed.
“My point hasn’t changed: the real measure of success is whether the illegal market is shrinking, not how many headlines its seizures generate. On that front, there is still much work to be done.” ‒ Aug 28, 2026
Main image: The Star
