Customs dept foils attempts to smuggle drugs worth nearly RM1.3 mln at KLIA

PUTRAJAYA - The Royal Malaysian Customs Department (JKDM) foiled two attempts to smuggle cocaine, heroin and ketamine, weighing almost 10 kilogrammes (kg), with a value of nearly RM1.3 million, at Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) Terminal 1, on Sept 27.

Its deputy director-general (Enforcement and Compliance) Datuk Sazali Mohamad said the first case involved an attempt to smuggle cocaine, weighing 3.85 kg and with an estimated market value of RM770,000, by a Korean national who entered Malaysia using a tourist pass.

"The drugs were hidden in luggage which had been modified to dodge the authorities," he said in a statement today, adding that the 83-year-old man was arrested on the same day (Sept 27), and has been remanded until Oct 12.

In the second case, Sazali said a Passenger Screening Branch 1 officer detained and checked the luggage of a 21-year-old Malaysian male passenger, who collected his luggage at the Lost and Found counter of an airline, after cancelling his flight abroad.

"During the scanning process carried out using the baggage scanner, the officers and personnel on duty detected suspicious green objects and images in one toy box and six food containers belonging to the passenger. The items were suspected to be drugs,” he said.

As a result of further inspection, 14 bars containing compressed white powder, suspected to be heroin, were found, weighing 4.95 kg with an estimated value of RM438,000 and five packets containing lumps of crystal suspected to be ketamine, weighing 1kg and worth about RM60,000, he said.

Sazali also said that preliminary investigations found that both types of drugs were obtained from a syndicate, believed to be active in the Klang Valley, to be taken out of Malaysia. - BERNAMA