ECONOMIC hardship and aggressive enticement by criminal syndicates are causing more and more people from rural communities throughout Malaysia to become an accomplice to illegal smuggling activities.
Such is the observation made by founder and president of the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE)-Malaysian Chapter Datuk Seri Akhbar Satar.
The comment was made following a series of reports that indicated a sharp rise of illegal cigarettes smuggling activities taking place among rural communities along Malaysia’s expansive and porous coastlines.
A recent case in point was the seizure of illegal cigarettes worth RM7.66 mil from a small jetty in Endau (Johor) on June 11 by the police.
“Clearly, the COVID-19 pandemic and the series of movement control orders (MCOs) put into place have impacted the livelihoods of those in the rural communities,” opined Akhbar who was also the immediate former Transparency International Malaysia president.
“Taking advantage of this situation, criminal syndicates are tempting these villagers to play a part in their illegal smuggling logistic chain.”
Some of these criminals even pose as ‘white knights’ by contributing generously to renovate places of worship or to build public facilities to ‘win the hearts and minds”.
It is not surprising that because of this, fishermen and farmers rather smuggle cigarettes than tend to their vocation, according to Akhbar.
What is more worrisome is that some greedy and unethical law enforcement officers have fallen prey to this immoral scheme.
“Smuggling syndicates either bribe or threaten enforcement personnel stationed in rural areas to turn a blind eye on their activities,” revealed Akhbar who holds the professorial chair at Institute of Crime & Criminology, HELP University.
“If not stopped immediately, this dangerous ecosystem can pose a serious threat to the socio-economic fabric of our rural communities.”
The Government has taken a series of measures to curtail illegal cigarettes trade under Budget 2021, including limiting transhipment of cigarettes to dedicated ports, imposition of tax on the import of cigarettes with drawback facilities for re-export and disallowing re-export of cigarettes by small boats.
However, such steps have prompted criminal syndicates to focus on smuggling through coastal areas instead of the ports.
“Budget 2021 measures are working to a certain extent. The Government must be steadfast in implementing them stringently as some quarters are pushing for a relaxation of selected controls, especially those related to transhipment. There is no reason to relax the controls on transhipment,” Akhbar pointed out.
“The Government has also strengthened enforcement along the country’s borders, especially in areas where there is a risk of having lorong tikus (illegal routes). However, joint intelligence and operations still have to be carried out sincerely and truthfully without any hidden agenda.”
In addition to increasing patrol and vigilance along coastal areas, Akhbat suggested that law enforcement personnel be equipped with technology, intelligence-gathering capabilities, continuously conduct operations and be closely monitored with a periodic rotation system in place as a way to reduce the temptation for corruption,
“The price difference between illegal cigarettes and legal cigarettes must also be addressed effectively as this is one of the key factors criminal syndicates are doing all they can to circumvent the law,” lamented Akhbar.
“The more expensive legal cigarettes are, the more margins they can reap to bribe even more people!” – June 23, 2021
Photo credit: The Straits Times
