NILAI: Customs has thwarted several international drug trafficking attempts, seizing 4.8 tonnes of narcotics worth about RM300mil in the last three months, says its director-general Datuk Amran Ahmad.
He said the latest operation on June 15 saw 3,396kg of heroin worth almost RM170mil seized – the department's biggest success so far this year.
"Based on intelligence, we inspected a 40ft container at Westport in Port Klang and found the drugs in liquid form concealed in 18,870 soft drink packets.
"The drugs are believed to have been shipped in from West Asia en route to Australia," he told reporters at the Customs Narcotics branch headquarters in Kg Jijan near here on Wednesday (July 1).
Amran said the drugs had been declared as mixed packed foodstuff, soap, detergent and hair gel.
He said in another case on May 18, his officers seized 11 boxes containing cannabis buds from a logistics company at KLIA Cargo Complex in Sepang, Selangor.
The seizure, weighing 162kg, was worth an estimated RM12.9mil, he added.
"We also arrested two suspects, both shipping agents, during the operation.
"The boxes had been declared to contain dried food and were bound for Europe," he said.
Amran said five days earlier, Customs officers seized a parcel containing 2.68kg of MDMAA from a foreign tourist at a hotel lobby in Kuala Lumpur.
"We then arrested two other foreigners in a room at the same hotel and seized a further 3.43kg of various drugs and 86g of psychotropic substance with a total value of almost RM979,000," he said adding that the drugs had been imported from France and declared as chewy candies.
Amran said all three suspects were charged under Section 39B(1)(a) of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952 on May 25.
Amran said in the fourth case on May 12, his officers seized eight boxes containing 98 packets of MDMA from a godown at the KLIA Free Trade Zone.
The drugs, weighing 220kg, were worth an estimated RM33mil.
In an attempt to hoodwink the authorities, the drugs were falsely declared as "spare parts for machinery".
In the fifth major case on April 9, Customs officers seized 1,049.5kg of cannabis buds worth almost RM84mil hidden in a 40ft container at Westport.
"The drugs, brought in from a South-East Asian country, were in transit here and destined for Europe," he said, adding that they were falsely declared as "luxury vinyl tile flooring".
All the cases were being probed under Section 39B(1)(a) of the Dangerous Drugs Act, Amran added.
Offenders can be sentenced to death, or jailed between 30 and 40 years with caning, upon conviction.
