Argentinian arrested for smuggling cocaine worth RM1.2m

KUALA LUMPUR: Police have arrested an Argentinian who was smuggling 4.8kg of cocaine which is said to be worth RM1.2 million.
Federal narcotics crime investigation department director Commissioner Datuk Seri Mokhtar Mohd Shariff said cooperation between Malaysian police and the Sao Paulo Airport Police Brazil led to the 38-year-old suspect's arrest.
"In an operation conducted by the Bukit Aman Narcotics Crime Investigation Department (NCID) at the KLIA, the Special Tactical Intelligence Narcotics Group (Sting) caught the man who was transporting the drugs.
"The man had smuggled in the drugs by stashing them at every corner of his luggage bag. He had carried his luggage bag on board a flight from Brazil before transiting in Ethiopia and Singapore.
"We got a tip off from the Sao Paulo Airport Police Brazil about this man and we acted," Mokhtar told reporters at the Bukit Aman police headquarters here today.
He said the man was passing through Malaysia to distribute the drugs to neighbouring countries.
"The drugs were not for Malaysian consumption as there is no market for cocaine here, he was using Malaysia as a transit point to distribute the drugs to neighbouring countries," he said.
He added police also seized RM4,400 cash in different currencies. The drugs would have been distributed to some 24,000 people had it been released on the market.
This is the first time this year an Argentinian was arrested by the police since 2014.
In 2015, 15 drug mules were detained, in 2016, 22 and in 2017 seven drug mules have been detained so far.
The suspect has been remanded for seven days and the case is being investigated under Section 39B of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952, which provides the mandatory death sentence.
Police have seized 37 firearms and weapons, drugs worth RM105.2 million namely syabu (496.4kg), ketamine (90.06kg), ecstasy pills (107,532), yaba pills (765,649) and Erimin 5 pills (2,639,525) between Jan 1 and June 5.