GEORGE TOWN: Customs officers raided a shop in the city centre and seized about 70 stun guns.
The shop owner was slapped with a compound 10 times the sale value of the items, which were confiscated.
The stun guns – model 800 sold at RM40 each and model 669 at RM50 each – were on the shelf when the five officers raided the shop in Jalan Sungai Ujong yesterday.
The shop owner claimed that she did not know that the stun guns were prohibited items.
A Customs officer explained that a licence was needed for the sale and possession of stun guns and tasers.
He said the shop owner will be charged in court if she failed to pay the compound.
“We will continue to act against traders selling prohibited items,” he said.
On the online sale of stun guns, the officer said the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) has the authority to block the websites concerned.
On Saturday, The Star highlighted the ease in which a stun gun can be obtained.
The item can be used to incapacitate a person. The report stated that several robberies were carried out using stun guns.
Robbers on a motorcycle used a stun gun in Taman Brown, George Town, last Sunday to immobilise a 53-year-old woman before grabbing her handbag containing a smartphone and RM200.
Federal CID deputy director Deputy Comm Datuk Amar Singh had said that Section 11 of the Act stipulated that no person, except for a licensed dealer or repairer, should sell or transfer any arms or ammunition.
He said the Act also explained that no one shall knowingly accept any delivery of arms or ammunition unless he or she had a valid licence for such a transaction.
Anyone found guilty of violating the Act can be jailed for up to two years or fined not more than RM2,000 or both.