KANGAR: The Customs Department has paid RM280,000 to informers of smuggling cases involving firecrackers since Sept 1.

Customs director-general Datuk Seri Abd Rahman Abd Hamid said the offer was still on throughout the Hari Raya festive season.

"We have rewarded many informers who have led the Customs Department to the seizure of smuggled goods. We promise to give rewards up to RM10,000 to those who give information," he said at the state Customs headquarters here.

Meanwhile, Abd Rahman said the department had recorded 54 cases of smuggling firecrackers worth about RM3 million since Sept 1.

Since Sept 1, more than 60,300kg of firecrackers were seized in nationwide raids and operations. These figures did not include seizures made by the police and Anti-Smuggling Unit.

Those caught transporting firecrackers could be fined between 10 to 20 times the value of seized items or three years jail or both.

Abd Rahman said that parents who allowed their children to play firecrackers may also be fined a minimum of RM100.