KLANG: Police believe they have crippled an international drug trafficking syndicate following the seizure of RM1.44mil worth of methamphetamine hidden in a modified container during a raid at West Port here on Nov 7.
Bukit Aman Narcotics Crime Investigation Department (NCID) director Comm Datuk Hussein Omar Khan said the operation was carried out based on information from the police’s Task Force Tiger in collaboration with Australian police, which detected movements in a container on transit at Port Klang.
“The syndicate is believed to have brought the drugs from the Middle East, using Malaysia as a transit point before shipping them to Australia by declaring that the container contained 22 pallets of marble slabs.
“However, international intelligence suspected the existence of additional hidden cargo, before an inspection revealed a special modified space which had fresh welding marks,” he told a press conference at the Port Klang police station yesterday, Bernama reported.
Comm Hussein said an inspection of the container led to the discovery of 136 transparent plastic packages containing crystal substances believed to be methamphetamine, weighing 45kg.
He said the seizure was the NCID’s second success this year with Port Klang used as a transit for drug shipments.
“We managed to thwart the shipment of drugs to their targeted country. But their tactics are constantly changing.
“The specific space was created in the container to conceal the drugs and such a method is slightly different compared with previous cases,” he said, adding that the case was being investigated under Section 39B of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952.
Comm Hussein said no local company was involved in the shipment of the drugs, and that the container only stopped at Port Klang on transit to its next destination.
He thanked Westports, port authorities, Fire and Rescue Department and international strategic partners for helping uncover the syndicate’s activities.
