Latest news with #RM666
New Straits Times
26-05-2025
- New Straits Times
Ganja buds disguised as clothes, pillowcases seized at KLIA
KUANTAN: A drug smuggling attempt involving a large consignment of cannabis buds worth about RM1.4 million was foiled by the Customs Department following a series of inspections on May 5. The parcels, falsely declared as containing T-shirts and pillowcases, were intended for delivery to Europe. The drugs were detected when several packages scanned at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) Mail and Courier Centre showed suspicious images resembling organic material. Pahang Customs director Mohd Asri Seman said the discovery was made during routine inspections carried out between 3.10pm and 3.30pm. "In the first case, our officers uncovered some 6,200g of drugs, valued at RM666,400, falsely declared as pillowcases at 3.10pm. A second find followed roughly 10 minutes later — a parcel weighing 3,200g, worth RM313,600, declared as shirts. "At 3.30pm, we intercepted a third batch of drugs, weighing around 4,340g and valued at RM425,320, also disguised as shirts," he told reporters at the Sultan Ahmad Shah Customs Complex in Indera Mahkota today. Asri said that the syndicate had used courier services to transport the drugs abroad, with Malaysia believed to have been used as a transit point. "Two of the parcels originated from Terengganu, and one from Selangor. The syndicate is believed to have smuggled the drugs into Malaysia from a neighbouring country. "To put it in perspective, one kilogram of cannabis buds is valued at about RM98,000, compared to RM3,000 per kg for compressed cannabis," he added. The case is being investigated under Section 39B of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952, which carries the mandatory death penalty upon conviction.
New Straits Times
23-04-2025
- Business
- New Straits Times
NST Leader: Scams feed on our greed
Investment schemes promise huge returns within days. This "guarantee" would be a red flag, yet many fall for such schemes. Scammers won't go away as long as people continue to believe them. We would think that company directors, lecturers, or retirees would be the last to fall victim to such scams. Not so. Last week, a company director, a lecturer and a retiree lost RM1.2 million between them. You can rest assured that this won't be the last we hear of such people falling prey to fake schemes. The government can do only so much: it is up to us to be alert. Police usually act only after victims file reports. By then, it's usually too late to recover the money or arrest the scammers. Police do run awareness campaigns. They even have a website to warn people not to deposit money in mule accounts. But scammers stay a step ahead, luring people with a few thousand ringgit to use their accounts as mules. Many mules are victims, too. The root cause for the prevalence of scammers is people's need to make big money in a short period of time. Neither banks nor the stock exchanges can satiate such a need. Take the case of the company director. He had a decent amount of money in his account. Perhaps, for him, the money wasn't growing fast enough, so he went looking for faster growth. He chanced on a high-return stock investment scheme. Enticed by the scheme's promise of a daily return of five to 10 per cent within three days, he made 20 transfers worth RM666,300 from March 4 to April 17 to two accounts. It is not clear if he checked to whom the two accounts belonged. But he did download an application, as instructed, which displayed fake profits of RM1.4 million. He only realised it was a scam when he couldn't withdraw the "profits". This time, the scammers told him he could have them if he paid RM100,000. By now he knew he had been conned. He lodged a police report on Friday. Similarly, the lecturer in Pahang was duped of RM240,000 in six transactions after being introduced to an investment scheme on Facebook. After depositing RM7,000, he was told that he had made a profit of RM3,000. Thinking this to be a genuine scheme, he deposited the rest of the money into four accounts. He was made to believe that he had made a profit of RM1 million. But when asked to pay RM30,000 to withdraw the "profits", he knew he had been duped. Ditto the retiree. The three scams teach us one critical lesson: there is no such thing as quick profits. Know this and you will be safe.
