SHAH ALAM: Attempts to smuggle drugs out of the country have been stopped after police checks led to three separate arrests and seizures worth millions of ringgit in the span of a week.
Selangor police chief Comm Datuk Shazeli Kahar said the three attempts to smuggle drugs were disrupted after two checks at Terminal One of the Kuala Lumpur International Airport and raids in Negri Sembilan and Selangor.
The operations were conducted between June 17 and 22, leading to the arrest of four suspects including one local, he added.
“On June 17, two luggages were flagged in KLIA during scanning, leading to the arrest of a foreigner in his 30s. Checks on the bags led to the discovery of 29.6kg of suspected marijuana buds, worth around RM2.37mil.
“Then, on June 18, Sepang and Nilai police arrested two men outside a hotel in Bandar Baru Enstek in Negri Sembilan where checks on their luggage led to the discovery of around 36kg of suspected marijuana buds.
“One of the suspects then led the police to a house in Banting where a further 72kg of marijuana buds were found, valued at around RM8.64mil,” he said at a press conference at the contingent headquarters here yesterday.
Shazeli said a third case occurred again in KLIA whereby on June 22, a European man was detained after scans showed suspicious packages inside two luggages.
“Additional checks led to the discovery of around 34kg of marijuana buds worth RM2.72kg,” he said.
In total, the police seized 171.6kg of suspected marijuana buds, worth RM13.73mil.
“All arrested suspects did not have prior police records,” he said.
It is believed that the drugs were sourced from neighbouring countries and intended for distribution to foreign countries, in particular, Europe.
“From January to June, we have seized 653.6kg of marijuana buds from KLIA alone. A total of 38 suspects have been arrested with 28 of them charged in court,” he said.
