BUTTERWORTH: The Customs Department seized more than 18kg of ganja buds worth some RM1.8mil in separate operations in Penang.
Its state director Rohaizad Ali said in an operation on April 16, a team from the Customs Narcotic Unit conducted checks on parcels at the Mail Courier Centre of Pos Malaysia in Batu Kawan around 1pm.
"An inspection, with the assistance of a narcotics detection dog, led to the discovery of four packages containing dried plant material believed to be ganja buds," he told a press conference at the Bagan Jermal Enforcement Storage Facility on Thursday.
He said the seized drugs weighed slightly over 2.2kg and were valued at RM219,128.
The parcels had been declared as containing nine units of "comic book" and were exported to the United Kingdom before being returned with the status of a "returned parcel", he added.
He said investigations are ongoing to identify the owner of the parcels.
In another operation at Penang International Airport around 11.35am on March 4, a team of officers discovered a piece of suspicious baggage at the baggage carousel.
Rohaizad said checks found that the unclaimed baggage contained 29 transparent packs of dried plant believed to be ganja buds.
The drugs weighing about 16.2kg and worth some RM1.5mil, he said.
He said further investigations found the baggage had arrived from China.
He said Customs believe the drugs were smuggled through a private baggage that had been checked in before departure.
He said both cases are being investigated under Section 39B(1)(a) of the Dangerous Drugs Act, which carries the death penalty or life imprisonment with not less than 12 strokes of the cane upon conviction.
He urged members of the public with information on smuggling activities involving cigarettes, liquor, firecrackers, drugs or vehicles to contact the Customs Toll Free Line at 1-800-88-8855 or reach out to any nearby customs office.
