JOHOR BARU: The Customs Dept has seized more than RM1mil worth of untaxed vehicle spare parts in a series of raids here.

       State Customs director Sazali Mohamad said the spare parts were found in three separate locations between 5.30pm and 7.10pm on July 8.

       "The first raid took place at about 5.30pm at KM75.4 of the North-South Expressway near Machap, Kluang, where some 8,194 units of vehicle spare parts were found in a trailer.

       "The declaration documents of the goods, imported from a neighbouring country, are believed to be fake," he said in a statement on Thursday (Aug 19).

       He said the spare parts were worth about RM437,870 and the unpaid taxes amounted to RM131,995.75.

       "The second raid was on another trailer near a building at Taman Ecoperniagaan in Johor Baru where we found 2,898 units of imported vehicle spare parts, again with import declaration documents believed to be fake.

       "Aside from the spare parts, enforcement officers also found imported food products and laptops believed to be without valid permits," he said, adding that the items seized were worth RM535,906 with unpaid taxes totalling RM70,050.

       The third raid took place at Danga Bay here at about 7.10pm with 650 units of vehicle spare parts found in another trailer.

       "Some RM154,887 worth of spare parts were seized with unpaid taxes amounting to RM20,582," he said.

       He added that the cases are being investigated under Section 135 (1) (a) of the Customs Act 1967.

       On a separate matter, Sazali said the department also seized 55,000 litres of zam-zam water on Aug 5.

       He said the water was found in two containers at a warehouse near Johor Port in Pasir Gudang.

       "We found 11,000 bottles of zam-zam water in the containers. They were believed to have been imported illegally through Tanjung Pelepas Port.

       "Checks on the supporting documents such as the bill of lading and manifest showed that the items were declared as artificial flowers," he said.

       He noted that zam-zam water is classified as a prohibited import item under the third schedule of the Customs (Prohibition of Imports) Order 2017.

       "Some RM412,500 worth of zam-zam water was seized. The amount of unpaid taxes was about RM107,259," he said.

       The case is being investigated under Section 135 (1) (a) of the Customs Act 1967 and Regulation 30 (1) of the Free Zone (Amendment) Regulations 2019.