NARATHIWAT: Thailand’s enforcement agencies at Sungai Kolok, Narathiwat have foiled an attempt to smuggle 20,000 packets of contraband cigarettes worth 600,000 baht (RM77,609) into Malaysia.

       Narathiwat Area Excise Office Sungai Kolok branch head Jiranant Jaihao said acting on a tip-off, the enforcement team comprising the excise officers, police and army officers found the contraband cigarettes on Tuesday (Feb 15) in two vehicles near a river at the Thailand-Malaysia border in Sungai Kolok.

       He added that it is believed that the cigarettes are from Vietnam.

       "Further checks led to the recovery of 20,000 packets of contraband cigarettes hidden at the back of the vehicles. When the enforcement officers arrived at the scene, five men fled into the jungle,” he said at a press conference here today.

       He added that the contraband cigarettes are believed to have been smuggled into the border town of Tak Bai by Vietnamese fishermen and said that they were destined for Rantau Panjang, Kelantan.

       "The enforcement agencies are stepping up efforts to hunt down the suspects,” he said. - Bernama