Growing danger on the open Web

The Star

17-05-2025

KUALA LUMPUR: Social media sites are often used by syndicates to promote and market drug-laced vapes.
It is learnt that the purchases are made online and a courier service is the go-to method to deliver the 'special' vapes to customers.
'We have detected that syndicates would resort to using social media to market their banned product.
'However, they are also packaging the drug-laced vapes and pods in a similar way to normal vape products, making it difficult for authorities to identify whether a vape pod or device contains drugs or otherwise,' Bukit Aman Narcotic Crime Investigation Department (NCID) acting director Deputy Comm Mat Zani@Mohd Salahuddin Che Ali (pic) told The Star recently.
He said there are also vape shops that sell drug-laced vapes to certain customers.
'We believe this is mostly catered to long-term and trusted customers,' he added.
In 2023, 17 individuals were detained for selling drug-laced vapes, while last year, five suspects were nabbed, DCP Mat Zani said.
'As of April (this year), we have already detained four individuals for trafficking drug-laced vapes.
'Two of them were detained last month.
'We also seized a litre of vape liquid containing MDMA (ecstasy). The suspects were nabbed in a drug processing lab.
'On top of other drugs, they also produced drug-laced vape liquid,' he said.
Underage users of drug-laced vapes are also on the radar of the NCID, DCP Mat Zani said.
'We detained five individuals, who were below 18 years of age last year.
'They were in possession of vape devices and liquid, which contained drugs.
'Between January and March (this year), we detained an underage individual for a similar offence,' he said.
The operation against drug-laced vape syndicates has been continuous, DCP Mat Zani said.
'We seized 471.5 litres of vape liquid containing drugs along with 45 vape devices in 2023, followed by 62.68 litres (of drug-laced vape liquid) last year and 1.8 litres so far this year.
'No devices were seized last year and so far this year,' he added.
Some 65% of vape liquid and devices seized in 2023 contained MDMA and ADB Butinaca (synthetic cannabinoid compound), he revealed.
'Last year, 26% of the vape liquid seized contained MDMB-4en-Pinaca (indazole-based synthetic cannabinoid),' he said.
DCP Mat Zani said the NCID is always gathering actionable intelligence on the processing and selling of drug-laced vapes nationwide.
'Once vital information is obtained, we will detain those involved,' he said.
DCP Mat Zani said cooperation with other agencies is vital to curb drug trafficking and abuse involving vapes or electronic cigarettes.
'We are working with other agencies such as the Malaysian Communication and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) to track down individuals and syndicates involved in promoting and selling drug-laced vapes on social media,' he said.
DCP Mat Zani urged the public to contact the police if they encounter any individual or shop selling drug-laced vapes.
'We also call on schools and institutions of higher learning to report such cases immediately as drug-laced vapes are popular among the younger generation,' he said.
Previously, Deputy Inspector-General of Police Datuk Seri Ayob Khan Mydin Pitchay said state governments could take action by banning the sale of vapes, which are now increasingly linked to the abuse of new synthetic drugs.
Ayob Khan said some states had already taken the initiative to ban vape sales, bringing a positive impact.
He encouraged other state governments to follow suit while waiting for the Federal Govern­ment to draft related laws.
'Some states have made that decision, meaning state governments can also impose bans, because the sale licence is under the jurisdiction of local authorities,' he said.