KUALA LUMPUR: Customs Department director-general Datuk Seri Khazali Ahmad wants those responsible for the death of a senior Customs officer in Pasir Mas, Kelantan, to be brought to justice.

Khazali said Custom officers would continue to carry out their duties.

The death of Anisah Ali, 54, would fuel the department’s determination to nab smugglers.

“We will continue with our war against them as their activities (smuggling) are causing the country to lose money and putting national security at risk.”

He urged the public to work with the department to put a stop to smuggling.

“The war against them (smugglers) is an ongoing process, not only in Kota Baru, but throughout the country’s borders.”

On Friday, Anisah was one of three officers in a Customs patrol car pursuing two vans suspected of smuggling illicit cigarettes.

During the chase, a third car — a four-wheel-drive believed to be driven by a “tonto” working for the smugglers — appeared and rammed the Customs vehicle from the rear, causing it to skid and crash into a tree along the roadside.

Anisah, who was seriously injured, succumbed to her injuries at Raja Perempuan Zainab II Hospital in Kota Baru, Kelantan, at 11.50pm on Saturday.-nst