Penang customs director Rohaizad Ali said the department’s enforcement division operations unit raided the house at 1pm on Oct 8 and seized the cigarettes, valued at RM581,254 with taxes amounting to RM1.37 million.

“Acting on information, we monitored the double-storey terrace house for a week as we suspected it was linked to the sale of smuggled cigarettes.

“Before the raid, we conducted two hours of surveillance on the house and found no one present.

“During the initial inspection, the customs team did not find any items, and the premises also appeared unoccupied,” he said at a press conference here.

Rohaizad said upon further inspection, the operations team discovered a hidden room concealed by a custom-made cabinet specially designed to hide smuggled cigarettes.

Rohaizad said the room contained 1.54 million sticks of white cigarettes and 450,120 kretek cigarettes of various brands.

During the customs inspection of the house, a 70-year-old man arrived at the premises, claiming he had rented out the house to a foreign man for the past two years.

“The customs team uncovered the hidden room after two hours of inspection, noticing that while the main room appeared spacious from the outside, it was much smaller inside.

“A thorough check of the cabinet led to the discovery of the hidden room,” Rohaizad said.

A statement has been taken from the house owner and the authorities are tracing the tenant.

“We believe the house was used as a storage facility for the smuggled cigarettes meant for distribution throughout the state,” Rohaizad said.