JOHOR BARU, Malaysia: The state Customs Department seized over RM1.4mil (S$577,080,000) worth of contraband cigarettes and wine, with unpaid duties totalling some RM4.34mil at three separate raids in a single day.

State director Mohd Subre Ishak said in a 1.45am raid on Thursday, officers had stopped a bonded lorry on its way north near a petrol kiosk at Jalan Lingkaran Dalam here.

"Fifty boxes of Cordon brand cigarettes and 68 crates containing 589 litres of wine were found hidden in a special compartment within the lorry.

"The cigarettes cost RM180,000 with unpaid duties of RM487,800 while the wines cost RM16,020 with RM13,815 in unpaid duties," he said, adding that the 38-year-old driver had since been remanded.

Subre said several hours later at 9am, a Customs team tracked down a lorry at KM166 of the North-South Expressway near Tangkak and found 235 boxes of contraband cigarettes worth RM423,000 with RM1.14mil in unpaid duties.

However, he said the driver of the lorry, which was northward bound, managed to escape by running off into an oil palm plantation.

Subre said in the third raid at 6.50pm, two Customs officers found RM810,000 worth of contraband cigarettes with unpaid duties of RM2.19mil hidden in an eight-tonne lorry at the Tanjung Puteri Custom Complex.

The driver of the lorry, which was coming from Singapore, had told the officers that he was not carrying anything in the vehicle.

Subre said upon inspection, the officers found 450 boxes of contraband cigarettes in the vehicle.

The driver managed to evade capture. -The Star/ANN