Man Fined $7,200 For Shipping Beer
By Rol Ezam

Kuala Belait - A local man caught red-handed with 50 cartons of beer inside his boat by Customs Officers three days ago in Kampong Sungai Teraban Kuala Belait was fined $7,200 or seven months jail if default when he pleaded guilty in court yesterday.

In addition to the fine presiding Senior Magistrate Hj Abdullah Soefri DSP Hj Abidin also ordered that the beer valued at $1,000 including the boat and the engine, be forfeited to the state.

The Customs prosecutor told the court that the Customs Preventive Officers found a total of 50 cartons (x 24 cans of Tiger Beer @ 330 ml) inside his boat, where nine cartons were kept inside a cooler, 21 cartons kept under the middle sitting area of the boat, 15 cartons near the petrol tank and another 5 cartons in the back seats of the boat.

Prosecutor Hj Ahmad Hj Abd Rahman said the defendant Mohd Ali Hj Ibrahim, 39, a father of six, was found to have conveyed the contraband from the high seas. He anchored his boat beside his house at No. 53 A in Kg Sungai Teraban.

The prosecutor said the accused admitted that he had been promised a payment of $10 per carton if he conveyed the beers by sea into this country by a Chinese man named Ah Min. He also admitted that the items were to be sent around midnight to a deserted shipyard in Kuala Belait. He also admitted to committing this offence on three occasions. -- Courtesy of Borneo Bulletin 

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