JOHOR BAHRU, Feb. 22 -- Johor Customs Department has arrested four men and seized 42 luxury vehicles valued at RM22 million in a crackdown on a syndicate of car import companies.

The raids, conducted under "Ops Terma" between January 1 and February 6, targeted licensed luxury car warehouses and land patrols across the state, with a total of 341 inspections carried out, Johor Customs director Aminul Izmeer Mohd Sohaimi said today.

"Twenty-one cases have been opened for investigation, involving proprietors aged 40 to 50, whose companies failed to settle duties on imported vehicles within the 24-month deadline, despite a 48-month grace period," he told reporters at Menara Kastam Johor.

The seized vehicles, imported from countries includin...