Customs dept seizes RM13m worth of drugs after crippling distribution syndicate
NILAI: The Royal Malaysian Customs Department (JKDM) dismantled a drug distribution syndicate and seized various types of drugs, including heroin, ketamine and cannabis, weighing 145 kilogrammes (kg) and worth an estimated RM13 million, over a two-month period.
Its assistant director-general (Enforcement), Raizam Setapa@Mustapha, said the operation was conducted in Batu Caves, Salak Selatan, Sentul and Subang Jaya and at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) Cargo.
He said his team, detected the use of moving services was one of the new modus operandi used to smuggle drugs, when it inspected a mover company's warehouse in Batu Caves on April 10.
'The team seized 90 boxes of various sizes in the said warehouse, and found 344 compressed blocks of suspected heroin, weighing 122.85 kg and worth RM11.5 million, inside four boxes containing modified speakers to be sent to Australia, while the remaining 86 boxes contained household items,' he told reporters at a press conference at the JKDM Narcotics branch in Kampung Jijan here today.
Raizam said that this case is the first time it detected a drug syndicate using mover services to send goods using containers to Port Klang.
In a separate case, Raizam said that on May 13 at about 9.45 pm, a team of officers along with detection dogs (K9) from the JKDM Narcotics branch inspected three boxes of goods at a logistics company's warehouse at the KLIA Cargo.
He said they found five transparent plastic bags containing white crystal powder suspected to be methamphetamine, with an estimated weight of 5,105 grammes (gms) and valued at RM163,360, hidden among safety boots for export abroad.
Meanwhile, on April 3, a raid at a condominium in Salak Selatan uncovered 5,000 gms of MDMA (methylenedioxy-methamphetamine) worth an estimated RM835,000. Following that, another raid at a condominium in Sentul, Kuala Lumpur, found 6,176 gms of ketamine and 763 gms of cannabis, worth RM311,165.50.
According to him, the modus operandi involved using air courier services to import drugs into the country, and a local male suspect was arrested and charged in court.
Meanwhile, on April 10, the team found 5,106 gms of suspected methamphetamine crystal powder worth RM163,392 when raiding a courier company's premises in Subang Jaya.
'The discovery of the drugs was the result of inspecting a parcel containing footwear. The syndicate's modus operandi was to hide drugs inside modified footwear for export via air courier services. Following that, a local male suspect was arrested and charged in court,' he said, adding that all cases are being investigated under Section 39B(1)(a) of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Sun
13 hours ago
- The Sun
Unemployed man charged with trafficking over six kg of drugs
PONTIAN: An unemployed man was charged in the Magistrate's Court here today with four counts of drug trafficking and possession in Taman Mutiara, Pontian, last month. The accused, Lau Keat Lim, 35, only nodded to indicate understanding after the charges were read before Magistrate Arina Azmin Ahmad Marzuki. No plea was recorded as the case falls under the jurisdiction of the High Court. For the first charge, Lau is accused of trafficking in approximately 6.4 kilogrammes of MDMA (3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine), under Section 39B(1)(a) of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952. If convicted, he faces the death penalty or a maximum of 40 years' imprisonment and no fewer than 12 strokes of the cane if the death penalty is not imposed. The second charge involves possession of 20.04 grammes (gm) of methamphetamine, framed under Section 12(2) of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952 and punishable under Section 39A(1) of the same Act. The offence carries a jail term of between two and five years, and not fewer than three and not more than nine strokes of the cane, upon conviction. The third and fourth charges relate to possession of 5.66 gm of ketamine and 1.06 gm of methamphetamine, respectively. Both charges were made under Section 12(2) of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952 and are punishable under Section 12(3) of the same Act. If found guilty, the accused faces a fine of up to RM100,000 or imprisonment of up to five years, or both. All the offences were allegedly committed at a house in Taman Mutiara, Pontian, at around 6.10 pm on May 21. Deputy public prosecutor Anis Sahira Rosley prosecuted, while the accused was unrepresented. The court denied him bail and set Aug 5 this year for mention to obtain the chemistry report.
The Sun
13 hours ago
- The Sun
Unemployed man charged with trafficking over 6kg of drugs
PONTIAN: An unemployed man was charged in the Magistrate's Court here today with four counts of drug trafficking and possession in Taman Mutiara, Pontian, last month. The accused, Lau Keat Lim, 35, only nodded to indicate understanding after the charges were read before Magistrate Arina Azmin Ahmad Marzuki. No plea was recorded as the case falls under the jurisdiction of the High Court. For the first charge, Lau is accused of trafficking in approximately 6.4 kilogrammes of MDMA (3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine), under Section 39B(1)(a) of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952. If convicted, he faces the death penalty or a maximum of 40 years' imprisonment and no fewer than 12 strokes of the cane if the death penalty is not imposed. The second charge involves possession of 20.04 grammes (gm) of methamphetamine, framed under Section 12(2) of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952 and punishable under Section 39A(1) of the same Act. The offence carries a jail term of between two and five years, and not fewer than three and not more than nine strokes of the cane, upon conviction. The third and fourth charges relate to possession of 5.66 gm of ketamine and 1.06 gm of methamphetamine, respectively. Both charges were made under Section 12(2) of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952 and are punishable under Section 12(3) of the same Act. If found guilty, the accused faces a fine of up to RM100,000 or imprisonment of up to five years, or both. All the offences were allegedly committed at a house in Taman Mutiara, Pontian, at around 6.10 pm on May 21. Deputy public prosecutor Anis Sahira Rosley prosecuted, while the accused was unrepresented. The court denied him bail and set Aug 5 this year for mention to obtain the chemistry report.
New Straits Times
16 hours ago
- New Straits Times
Unemployed man charged with trafficking more than 6.4kg of drugs worth RM1mil
PONTIAN: A man was charged in the Magistrate's Court here today with four counts of drug trafficking and possession involving more than 6.4kg of methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), syabu and ketamine. Lau Keat Lim, 35, who is unemployed, nodded to indicate he understood the charges after they were read before Magistrate Arina Azmin Ahmad Marzuki. For the first charge, Lau was accused of trafficking 6,404.16g (6.4kg) of MDMA. He also faced three additional charges of drug possession, namely, 20.04g and 1.06g of syabu, and 5.66g of ketamine. Lau pleaded not guilty to all three possession charges. The offences were allegedly committed at a house in Taman Mutiara here at about 6.10pm on May 21. For the trafficking offence, Lau was charged under Section 39B(1)(a) of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952, which carries the mandatory death penalty, or life imprisonment of up to 40 years and no fewer than 12 strokes of the cane, if not sentenced to death. For drug possession, he was charged under Section 12(2) of the same Act, which carries a maximum fine of RM100,000, or a jail term of up to five years, or both, upon conviction. Deputy public prosecutor Anis Sahira Rosley appeared for the prosecution, while Lau was unrepresented. Earlier, the accused claimed he did not understand the charges, prompting the magistrate to instruct the court interpreter to read them again. Lau later said that he understood and entered a plea of not guilty to the three possession charges. No bail was offered by the prosecution due to the severity of the trafficking charge, which carries the death penalty. The court ordered that no bail be granted and instructed the accused to appoint legal representation before trial. The magistrate fixed mention for all three cases on Aug 5 for submission of the chemistry report. On May 25, Johor police chief Datuk M. Kumar said a 35-year-old man had been arrested after police seized more than 6.4kg (6,404.16g) of various drugs worth over RM1.07 million.
