KOTA KINABALU: A drug syndicate’s trick of using tea bags to courier drugs into Sabah turned out to be futile.
Deemed the biggest drug bust so far this year, Sabah Customs seized more than 200kg of methamphetamine valued at RM6.85mil at a courier agent’s office.
The confiscation was made at the office in Penampang near here at 9.10am on Feb 15, said Sabah Zone Customs Department assistant director-general Datuk Mohd Nasir Deraman.
Prior to the raid, officials had detected suspicious items stored in 15 boxes at the aviation post warehouse at the Kota Kinabalu International Airport.
“The boxes went through screening machines and we detected something amiss,” Mohd Nasir said during a press conference here yesterday.
“A further test using drug detection metal showed that the boxes contained methamphetamine.”
As part of investigations, they allowed the boxes to pass through and followed the trail.
The boxes were delivered to the courier agent’s office where the recipients were supposed to self-collect.
“However, no one came forward to collect them,” said Mohd Nasir.
The drugs weighing 205kg, believed to have been delivered from Peninsular Malaysia, were later taken to the Customs Department for further investigation.
“The drugs, which are enough to feed 600,000 addicts, are packed nicely and sealed in tea packets, intending to fool authorities. But it failed to fool our detection tools,” said Mohd Nasir.
He said Customs officials were tracking down the suspects.
Mohd Nasir said they were also investigating whether the parcels were meant for use in Sabah or the state is just a transit point.
He urged the public to contact the department’s hotline at 1800-88-8855 or go to the nearest Customs office if they have information on the case.
Mohd Nasir assured the public that the identities of whistleblowers will be protected.
