The department’s central zone assistant director-general, Ahmad Taufik Sulaiman, said the seizures were carried out under Op Barrier, conducted from Jan 20 to 30, Op Tinman carried out in February, and Op Petasan from March 3 to today.

He said the enforcement division seized 32 containers from the premises of registered fireworks importers located in Selangor, Perak, Penang and Johor.

“These containers contained various types of firecrackers that failed to meet the technical specifications and import permit guidelines set by the home ministry and police,” Bernama quoted him as saying at the Selangor customs office in North Port today.

The items confiscated in the four states amounted to 57.8 tonnes, valued at RM1.48 million, with duties and taxes totalling RM978,247.

The department also seized 544.8 tonnes of rice worth RM2.01 million, with duties and taxes amounting to RM805,651, after it was found to have been imported without a permit from an Asian country.

Separately, the customs officers seized 69 containers containing 1,662.7 tonnes of iron and aluminium scrap worth RM13.07 million during Op Tinman at the West Port Free Zone from Feb 1 to 28.

Taufik said the containers’ contents were falsely declared as aluminium alloy, copper scraps, aluminium scraps and machinery parts from a country in the Americas.