MCO a boon to illicit cigarette trade, say business groups

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An estimated five million Malaysians or some 20% of the population are smokers.PETALING JAYA: Several business organisations have alleged that restrictions under the movement control order (MCO) have led to a dramatic rise in the sale of cigarettes smuggled into the country. Speaking to FMT, spokesmen for two of the organisations said their customers, unable to buy cigarettes on which tax has been paid, had told them they had turned to the black market. Ho Su Mong, the president of the Malaysia and Singapore Coffeeshop Association, said his group had informed the National Economic Action Council that its 20,000-odd members had run out of cigarettes to sell. He said smokers had told him they were now buying easily available illicit cigarettes. The members of his association had lost 30% of their business to the bootleggers, he added. Hong Chee Meng, who heads the Federation of Sundr…