ALOR SETAR: The state Customs Department seized 164 boxes of fireworks valued at over RM225,000. The fireworks, believed to have been smuggled from Thailand, were found in a lorry at KM52.5 of the southbound North-South Expressway during an operation codename “Ops Raya 2017” at about 2.55pm on Tuesday.
Department director Datuk Johari Alifiah said they received a tip-off about an illegal shipment of fireworks. “We found the lorry fully loaded with 164 boxes of firecrackers and fireworks estimated at RM141,660, with unpaid taxes of RM83,575,” he told journalists at the state Customs complex here Thursday. He said the lorry driver, a Malaysian in his 30s, was arrested and released on bail.