PETALING JAYA: Five Malaysians have been arrested in Japan for allegedly smuggling drugs into the country.
The suspects, aged between 19 and 26, were detained after Customs officers found 5kg of cocaine, worth an estimated ¥120mil (RM3.2mil), concealed beneath the insoles of their shoes at Haneda Airport in Tokyo.
According to Japanese media, the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department announced the arrests on Monday. The group had reportedly arrived at the airport from KL International Airport on Friday night.
Customs officers discovered the drugs during inspections of a 25-year-old unemployed woman and a 19-year-old man, who were subsequently arrested on suspicion of importing narcotics for commercial distribution.
The woman reportedly told officers that all five had travelled to Japan together for sightseeing.
The five were arrested on suspicion of violating Japan’s Narcotics and Psychotropics Control Act.
Reports said four of the suspects had admitted to the allegations, while the woman denied them, claiming she did not know the shoes contained cocaine.
During questioning, one of the suspects said he was promised about ¥310,000 (RM8,000) for the task. He then invited his wife and his wife’s friend to join the trip.
The suspects reportedly received the shoes from another man at a hotel in Kuala Lumpur.
The Japanese media also reported a suspect had told investigators that he had been approached through a social media application and offered payment to transport drugs overseas.
Japanese authorities are continuing their investigations to determine whether an international drug trafficking syndicate was behind the operation and to identify those who arranged the shipment.
Meanwhile, Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail said the ministry will contact Japanese authorities to obtain accurate information on the arrest of the five Malaysians suspected of involvement in a drug case in Japan, Bernama reported.
He said Bukit Aman Narcotics Criminal Investigation Department director Datuk Hussein Omar Khan had been instructed to act immediately to establish the facts.
Saifuddin Nasution said the ministry’s move was also in line with the approach in the case involving the arrest of a Malaysian co-pilot in Jakarta several months ago, as well as the seizure of 521 kg of drugs from a private jet in Laos, which was initially alleged to have originated from Malaysia.
