Betrayal At The Border The Rm5b Price Tag Of A Smuggled Cigarette By Malaysian Army Personnel

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THE recent news that four Malaysian Armed Forces officers are to be charged for suspected links to a smuggling syndicate should send a chill down the spine of every citizen.
These are the individuals entrusted with the sanctity of our borders. Their alleged betrayal is not just a case of corruption; it is a grave symptom of a national security crisis funded by an economy we too often ignore.
When we read a headline like this, our immediate reaction is anger. Earlier reports said the syndicate smuggled drugs, cigarettes and other illegal goods worth about RM5 mil each month into Malaysia.

The army personnel were accused of leaking military information to help the smugglers, according to Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) chief commissioner Tan Sri Azam Baki.
But we often fail to ask the next – more crucial question: what were they smuggling that could generate profits so vast, so tempting that they could allegedly compromise the very guardians of our nation?
Mega crime ring
The answer – most likely – is the core of Malaysia’s black market: illicit cigarettes and vapes.
This is not a fringe issue; it is a parallel economy that starves the nation of over RM5 bil in tax revenue annually. This isn’t just money lost; it’s money directly transferred into the hands of criminal syndicates.
This is where we must confront an uncomfortable truth. The black market for these goods is the financial engine – the primary cash cow – for the transnational criminal organisations that threaten our society.

A campaign started by a nicotine company in the UK made it very, very clear. The “Costs More Than You Think” details the money trail and how it does not simply vanish.
It is re-invested into a diversified portfolio of human misery: funding the human trafficking rings that prey on vulnerable Malaysians with fake job offers, buying the weapons for armed robberies and financing the very syndicates powerful enough to pierce the armour of our own armed forces.
The cheap, illegal pack of cigarettes or disposable vape bought at a local sundry shop is not a victimless bargain. It is a direct financial contribution to organised crime.
Role of citizens
The few ringgit saved by the consumer becomes a down payment on another’s suffering, making us all unwitting stakeholders in enterprises that enslave, endanger and corrupt.
This crisis demands a fundamental shift in our response. For the government, it must be treated as the national security threat it is – a clear and present danger requiring a coordinated war on the financial lifeblood of these syndicates.
We need to implement modern, technology-driven solutions like a comprehensive digital track-and-trace system to starve these syndicates of their primary product.
But the government cannot win this war alone. This must be a holistic, whole-of-nation battle involving every level of society.

Our part as citizens is to be the frontline of this defence. We must stop creating the demand that fuels this criminal machine.
We need to be the eyes and ears in our communities, reporting suspicious sales and making the purchase of illicit products socially unacceptable.
We must collectively understand that every ringgit spent on these items is a vote for criminality and a vote against Malaysia’s future.
And the stakes could not be higher. Let’s be clear about what that RM5 bil in lost revenue truly represents. It’s not just a number on a Treasury spreadsheet.
It is the money that could have built new hospitals in rural communities, equipped thousands of schools with modern technology or funded better pay and resources for the very soldiers tasked with defending our borders. But instead of building our nation, it is being used to dismantle our security from within.
The cost of illicit trade is not measured in lost taxes. The true cost is a compromised border, a betrayed public trust and a child trafficked by a syndicate that we – in our collective complacency – helped to fund.
The fight against organised crime does not just happen at border checkpoints; it happens in our neighbourhoods with every choice we make. –  Focus Malaysia

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