JOHOR BARU: An attempt to hide some RM350,000 worth of fireworks behind a telephone shop here has been thwarted by police.

       State police chief Comm Datuk Kamarul Zaman Mamat said the fireworks were seized during a raid at Taman Mutiara Mas, Skudai at about 3pm on Sunday (Jan 16).

       "They tried to avoid getting caught by keeping the fireworks in the storeroom of a telephone shop. We believe that the fireworks were to be sold in conjunction with Chinese New Year," he added at a press conference at the Marine Police Region 2 headquarters here on Monday (Jan 17).

       He added that the syndicate responsible also tried to hide its operations by packing the illegal fireworks in boxes labelled "Happy Boom", which is a type of firework that is permitted.

       "Happy Boom fireworks may be sold in Malaysia. So they tried to hide the illegal fireworks in boxes with that label. We found about 250 boxes containing 16 types of fireworks in the storeroom," he said.

       Comm Kamarul Zaman added that a 48-year-old local man was arrested during the raid and police are looking for other syndicate members, including the mastermind.

       "The suspects will be remanded for three days starting Monday and the case is being investigated under Section 8 of the Corrosive and Explosive Substances Act," he said.