PUTRAJAYA: The Royal Malaysian Customs Department (JKDM) recently foiled three attempts to smuggle drugs worth more than RM1 million using courier and air cargo services at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) cargo area.
On May 14, JKDM seized a parcel addressed to a Johor address at the hub of an express courier company in the KLIA Cargo area following the discovery of 13 small packages containing methamphetamine weighing 1.07 kg worth approximately RM35,178.
Central Zone JKDM Enforcement Operations director Wong Pun Sian said initial investigations found that the parcel would be exported to Australia with the sender’s information suspected to be falsified to avoid being detected by the authorities.
“The syndicate’s modus operandi was hiding the drugs inside silicone sealants and then placing them in shoe boxes,“ he said in a statement today.
On April 28, the JKDM found nine aluminum foil packets containing 4.63 kg of heroin worth about RM435,220 placed in drink cans during an inspection at a premise in the KLIA Cargo area.
“The drinks were declared as ‘Avocado Multigrain’ from Johor and will be exported to Australia. The syndicate used false exporter information to avoid being detected,” he said.
On April 11, Wong said JKDM seized an international parcel (inbound) from Pakistan at a premise at KLIA Cargo following the discovery of 8.894 kg of ketamine with an estimated market price of RM533,640.
“The modus operandi in this case was to hide drugs in aluminum foil packets to avoid being detected by the scanner and use courier services to send them to false addresses,“ he said.
He said JKDM had busted 37 cases of drug smuggling attempts worth more than RM4.9 million through courier and air cargo services from January to April this year.-Bernama
