A captain of a ship and a crew member pleaded not guilty in the Magistrate’s Court today to a charge with smuggling cigarettes, worth RM47.1 million |
Ship captain, crew charged with smuggling cigarettes worth RM47.1 million
BERNAMA
22/3/2021
PONTIAN: A captain of a ship and a crew member pleaded not guilty in the Magistrate’s Court today to a charge with smuggling cigarettes, worth RM47.1 million, into the country early this month.
Myint Aung, 55, a Myanmar national, and Singaporean Seah Tien Lye, 48, made the plea after the charge was read out to them before Magistrate Nur Azzuin Abdul Moati.
The two men were charged with committing the offence on board the ship, MV Chita, at three nautical miles southwest of Pulau Kukup at about 8.15 pm last March 8.
The court allowed them bail of RM20,000 with two local sureties each and also ordered them to report themselves at the nearest police station on every Monday until the disposal of the case.
They were also ordered to surrender their passports to the court.
The court set April 21 for mention.
Meanwhile, the charge against nine other members of the crew on board the ship, who are aged between 22 and 46, was postponed to April 21 to enable the court to get a Burmese interpreter as they do not understand Malay and English.
Deputy public prosecutor Dewi Jasmine Amalina Ahmad prosecuted, while the two accused were represented by lawyers Mohd Hamizi Mohd Yusof and Ahmad Khairuddin Khalid.