Mohd Nasir (center) and his officers showing the seized frozen chickens.
KOTA KINABALU (March 1): A company owner was detained by the Royal Malaysian Customs Department (Sabah) for suspected tax evasion following two raids on three shipping containers at the Sepanggar Port here last month.
Sabah Zone Customs Assistant Director General Datuk Mohd Nasir Deraman said 81,000 kilograms of frozen chickens worth more than RM1 million were seized in the raids on Feb 2 and Feb 8.
“Customs officers inspected three shipping containers that arrived from Port Klang, Selangor. The manifest stated the goods contained frozen chicken parts, boneless chicken breasts and legs.
“Upon closer inspection found that all three containers containing frozen chicken meats originated from Thailand and entered the country via Bukit Kayu Hitam in Kedah by using Customs form No.8 (in-transit) by land and its next destination was Port Klang.
“Further inspection found that the merchandise were imported using the Customs K3 form which is incorrect because according to customs regulations, goods with ‘in-transit’ which according to this case was carried out in-transit in Port Klang Free Zone, the company should have used the K1 form,” he told a press conference on Friday.
Mohd Nasir said traders should use the K1 form when moving out from the Free Zone to Port Klang and then use the K3 form from Port Klang to the Sepanggar Port.
“However, the company did not use the K1 form when leaving the Free Zone but instead continued to use the K 3 form,” he said.
Following the offense, Customs Sabah seized all the merchandise from the three containers containing frozen chickens with a total weight of 81,000 kilograms.
The value of the merchandise from the three containers is estimated to worth RM1,117,800 including tax.
Mohd Nasir said the modus operandi of the company and the agent were to use the K1 form to avoid tax.
He said both the company owner and the agent have been detained to facilitate investigation under Section 135 (1)(g), Customs Act 1967.