TUESDAY-15TH JANUARY 2008-INTELLIGENCE CENTRE ENHANCES OPERATIONS AGAINST SMUGGLING

Intelligence centre enhances operations against smuggling

SANDAKAN: The Customs Intelligence Centre (CIC) which will begin operations sometime this year is expected to enhance the agency's effectiveness in weeding out smuggling activities, said its deputy director-general Datuk Mardina Alwi.
Based at the Customs headquarters at Putrajaya, she said it would be equipped with a command centre and intelligence application system.
"All state customs are required to relay information on company, syndicate and individual profiles as well as other intelligence gathered to CIC for intelligence purposes and enforcement," she said when opening the Salasa Customs meeting yesterday.
The meeting which involved Customs departments from Sabah, Sarawak and Labuan Federal Territory maps out the agency's strategies and cooperation in combating smuggling activities.
Mardina said the setting up of the CIC was in line with the focus on the use of information and communication technology (ICT) in empowering job functions and integrity.
In another development, she ordered joint operations to be carried out to curtail widespread smuggling of liquor and cigarettes to Sabah and Sarawak from the duty-free Labuan.
"The joint operations can send the right signal to the irresponsible people who were involved in irregularities and smuggling from Labuan that Customs can come down hard on them through concerted efforts," she said. - Bernama