Demand for smuggled cigarettes high because licit products highly taxed

Alcoholic beverages, tobacco products and illicit drugs are set to be the most valuable contraband seized byMalaysia’s Customs Department this year, according to a story in The Star.

Of the RM850 million worth of goods seized in the first 11 months of this year, alcohol, tobacco and drugs accounted for RM450 million.

Alcohol and tobacco are always going to be high on the list because the ‘worth’ of contraband products is taken to include the duties and taxes that should have been paid on them.

Customs director-general, Datuk Seri Khazali Ahmad, said that demand for contraband alcoholic beverages and tobacco products was “high and consistent.”

“Cigarettes and alcoholic beverages are the popular items as duties imposed on them are high, making them a lot more expensive in the open market,” he said at the opening of a Customs office in Seremban by Deputy Finance Minister, Datuk Donald Lim.