Enforcement director Wong Pun Sian said, in the first case, the operations team from its central zone enforcement division unit detained a 40ft container that entered North Port at 8pm on May 26.

He said they inspected the container and found more than 26,000 litres of Spark Beer Extra Strong, with an estimated value of RM111,000, on which total tax and duty was estimated at RM793,000.

“Based on the information in the bill of lading and customs form, the merchandise was declared as ‘household items’ from a neighbouring country. The shipping representative failed to submit import documents.

“The beer was hidden at the back of the container, behind polyfoam boxes to conceal it from scrutiny.

“This is a common method of concealing prohibited merchandise entering the country’s ports,” he said today.

In the second case, Wong said they foiled an attempt to smuggle 12,600 litres of beer, branded as Tsingtao and Demailong, worth RM94,000, on which taxes and duties were estimated at RM172,500.

The beer was found in another 40ft container at the same port at 8.30pm on May 31.

Wong said a review of the customs forms found the container was declared as having “fishing accessories (fake bait)”, from a neighbouring country. It was also missing the correct import documents.

“In this case, they concealed the beer behind sports goods and only paid taxes based on the tariff code declared.

“We find the importers are always changing delivery agents. Beer imports like these are difficult for the authorities to detect,” he said.

Wong said officers are tracing the import agents involved for further action under Section 135(1)(d) of the Customs Act 1967.