PORT KLANG:The tactic of an international drug syndicate, which involved modifying the roof of a container to hide methamphetamine worth RM1.44mil, was uncovered by the police at West Port here on Nov 7, Sinar Harian reports.
The syndicate is believed to have brought the drugs from the Middle East, using Malaysia as a transit point before shipping them to the Australian market, the Malay language daily reported.
The container was declared to contain 22 pallets of marble slabs, but international intelligence suspected additional illicit cargo.
Inspections revealed a hidden compartment with new welding marks and a specially modified space on the container's roof.
Bukit Aman Narcotics Criminal Investigation Department (NCID) Comm Datuk Hussein Omar Khan told Sinar Harian that the operation was carried out based on information received from Task Force Tiger in collaboration with the Australian Federal Police (AFP), which detected suspicious movements of a container from the Middle East transiting at Port Klang.
"Inspection of the modified space on the container's roof led to the seizure of 136 transparent plastic packages containing crystal substances suspected to be methamphetamine, weighing 45kg.
"Investigations found that this container was directly brought from the Middle East and was intended for smuggling all these drugs to Australia," he said at a press conference at the Port Klang police station on Friday (Nov 14).
Comm Hussein explained that the seized drugs are valued at RM1.44mil and could potentially harm at least 225,000 users.
"This was an attempt to use Malaysia as a transit. Through international cooperation, we successfully blocked the drug shipment to their target country.
"This operation marks the second case this year with a similar modus operandi, using Port Klang as a transit for drug shipments.
"Their tactics are constantly changing. In this case, a specific space was created in the container to hide the drugs, different from previous cases," he said.
He noted that investigations revealed no local company was involved in the shipment, as the container was not scheduled to leave Port Klang for any domestic destination.
"The container only stopped at Port Klang for transit before proceeding to its next destination.
"It did not go through any other parties in Malaysia," he said.
The case is being investigated under Section 39B of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952.
"The police also express gratitude to Westports, port authorities, the Malaysian Fire and Rescue Department, and international partners like the AFP and Dubai Police Anti-Narcotics Unit for helping to uncover the syndicate's tactics.
"The police will not compromise with any parties involved in drug distribution and will continuously combat drugs to ensure the country is not used as a smuggling transit," he said.
He urged the public to report drug-related activities through the NCID Hotline at 012-208 7222.
