JOHOR BARU, Feb 15 — The Home Ministry seized over 2,295 units of sex toys with an estimated value of RM70,000, after several raids in Johor, Sarawak, Penang and Perak.
The operations by the ministry’s enforcement and control division were conducted between January 18 and February 6 and also included a storage area that was used to keep the banned items.
Home Ministry enforcement and control division secretary Nik Yusaimi Yussof said the latest raid in Masai, Johor had revealed that the sex toys were being sold openly to the public.
He said that the premises involved were selling the sex toys alongside with cosmetics, health and souvenirs items, including as online sales.
The seizures will be investigated under Section 7(1) of the Printing Presses and Publications Act 1984 for eroding moral values.
The ministry will also investigate the cases under Section 292 of the Penal Code for distribution and sales of obscene items.
“We have arrested three women and a man, who are believed to be business owners in their 30s, to assist with the investigation,” he said during a media conference at the Johor Home Ministry’s Complex in Setia Tropika here today.
Nik Yusaimi said the ministry’s enforcement and controls division will step up enforcement against the distribution and sale of sex toys nationwide.
He explained that the sex toys were sold for as low as RM50 to RM300 and are suspected of being imported from China to meet the market demand.
“Sales of such items are prohibited in the country as it goes against the values and culture of our society.
“It is feared that the sale of such sex toys will bring a negative impact on society, especially the young,” he said.
On the operations against the sex toys, Nik Yusaimi said Johor recorded the most seizures with 2,012 units worth RM37,350.
He said this made it the biggest seizure for the year as it also involved raids on storage areas.
Nik Yusaimi said the other recent raids involved a raid on a shop inside a shopping centre in Kuching, Sarawak on January 17 where 135 units of sex toys with an estimated value of RM10,890.50 were seized.
He added two other raids were carried out in shopping centres in Bayan Lepas, Penang and Ipoh, Perak on February 6 where the ministry recorded seizures of 102 units (RM15,372) and 46 units (RM6,050) respectively.
For last year, the Home Ministry’s enforcement and control division were reported to have seized various types of sex toys which were worth a total of RM1.3 million.
