PETALING JAYA: A 24-year-old Malaysian man has been arrested at Macau International Airport for allegedly attempting to smuggle nearly 3kg of heroin concealed in food packaging.
Macau’s Judiciary Police said the suspect arrived on a flight from a Southeast Asian country on June 20 and was flagged after intelligence-led risk assessments before his arrival.
Acting on the information, narcotics officers detained the suspect after he collected his checked luggage.
The operation was carried out in coordination with Customs and the Public Security Police.
A search of the luggage uncovered 49 packages of food items labelled as tuna spread, biscuits and canned goods.
However, several of the cans were found to contain white powder instead of food.
Forensic analysis later confirmed the substance was heroin weighing 2,987g, with an estimated street value of about 4.18 million Macau patacas, or approximately RM2.09mil.
Police said the suspect was believed to have been recruited by a drug trafficking syndicate while in Malaysia.
He was allegedly told to travel to a Southeast Asian country to collect the drugs before transporting them to Macau.
He is believed to have been promised 6,000 Macau patacas, or about RM3,000, after completing the delivery.
Police said the drugs were intended for distribution in a nearby region.
Investigations are ongoing to identify other syndicate members still at large.
The suspect has been referred to the Macau’s Public Prosecution Office for alleged unlawful trafficking in narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances.
