Customs dept to crackdown on smuggled goods in run up to NY
With the new year approaching, the Customs Department has intensified its crackdown on smuggled goods, as it believes that activities are likely to increasing in advance of the festivities, director general Benja Louischaroen said on Monday.
The department will set up more checkpoints to crack down on the smuggling in and out of contraband goods, particularly oil and LPG.
“Our statistics show that the illegal activities will increase before the new year period, so we will intensify the crackdown on smuggled goods,” she said.
The director general was speaking after presiding over a press conference displaying contraband confiscated from many raids.
Benja said a raid on a fishing vessel near Mun Nok island off Rayong province on Saturday resulted in confiscation of 310 cooking gas tanks. The products cost about Bt6 million on the market. Products displayed at the press conference included 80 iPhones, worth about Bt2.4 million and 500 tanks of Genetron R12 refrigerants worth about Bt1.3 million.
The department also confiscated 1,299 methamphetamine tablets and 20,000 tablets of Diazepam worth about Bt 7.9 million concealed in a parcel posted to Israel.
