ILLEGAL cigarette syndicates are circumventing enforcement measures with new logistic routes and state-of-the-art technologies.
This follows a of a recent statement by the Director of Bukit Aman Internal Security and Public Order Department Datuk Seri Abdul Rahim Jaafar that smuggling syndicates operating along Malaysia’s border have moved from using conventional equipment to sophisticated technologies like drones.
Based on its analysis, the Retail and Trade Brands Advocacy Malaysia Chapter (RTBA Malaysia) concords that smuggling syndicates are changing the way they operate as a reaction to the enhanced enforcement measures put into place in Budget 2021 to counter illegal cigarettes trade.
“Large ports in Malaysia used to be the primary route for the illegal cigarettes trade,” observed RTBA Malaysia’s managing director Datuk Fazli Nordin.
“With new restrictions in place, these criminals are now utilising small private jetties and unofficial landing spots throughout Malaysia’s coast to bring in their illicit and untaxed products.”
According to Fazli, the authorities have reported that they have seized a total of close to 76.2 million sticks of illegal cigarettes that came through the coastal route in the first quarter of 2021 alone.
This marked a significant jump if compared to 34 million sticks of illegal cigarettes seized in the whole of 2020 as reported in the media.
“Clearly, the massive uptick in coastal illegal trafficking shows that these criminals are changing their modus operandi and are putting in place a new logistic eco-system that take advantage of Malaysia’s long and lightly guarded coastline,” opined Fazli. “The coastal route requires detailed coordination as many modes of transportation are used.”
This entails the use of large cargo ships to transport illegal cigarettes multi-nationally in international waters, while smaller boats are used to carry these goods into Malaysian waters.
Fishing boats and speed boats will then pick up the goods from these boats offshore to bring them to land in an unguarded coastal area. Finally, lorries and vans will transport these goods to undisclosed warehouses or staging points for distribution.
In view of this development, Fazli believes that any progress made by the enhanced enforcement measures in Budget 2021 to tackle the illegal cigarettes trade will be short-lived once these criminal syndicates solidify their new logistic system.
“It is basically a factor of demand-and-supply. Demand for cheap illegal cigarettes will continue to be high as legal cigarettes are just too expensive,” he pointed out.
“Criminal syndicates will naturally take advantage of this high demand and do whatever it takes to make huge profits at the expense of our Government’s revenue and national economy.”
To overcome this issue, RTBA Malaysia urges the Government to allocate more resources and attention on securing coastline across the country.
“Just like these criminal syndicates, our enforcement agencies must also look into embracing new technologies and deploying innovative methods to be one step ahead of them,” he proposed.
“As importantly, policies to address the wide price gap between legal and illegal cigarettes must be considered and put into place.”
Therefore, the upcoming Budget 2022 must include clever reforms that address the demand factor so that these criminal syndicates will find illegal cigarettes trafficking to be an unprofitable venture, he added. – My 21, 2021
Photo credit: Malay Mail
