FIVE men believed to be Portuguese passport holders were among eight foreigners recruited by an international drug syndicate to act as “drug mules” transporting cannabis from Malaysia to Europe, police said.
Bukit Aman Narcotics Criminal Investigation Department (NCID) director Datuk Hussein Omar Khan said the five were among nine suspects arrested in Op Lejogaster, which uncovered a trafficking network using Malaysia as a transit point for the international market.
He said the other foreigners arrested were a Myanmar national and two Singaporeans, while the ninth suspect was a Malaysian.
“For the Portuguese group, the leader is a Portuguese national. He coordinated from Europe the people who were brought to Malaysia to act as drug mules to transport these drugs to Europe,” he said at a press conference today.
Hussein said police would verify the suspects’ citizenship with the respective embassy based on the passports they were carrying.
Investigations found that the suspected drug mules did not know one another and were housed in separate hotels while in Malaysia.
“They do not know one another. They stay in different hotels and so on.
“They will wait until the syndicate tells them, ‘Okay, your luggage is ready, you can go to your destination’,” he said.
He said the mules were constantly moved and were believed to transport the drugs to London before they were distributed to other European countries.
Hussein said international drug syndicates were not only recruiting Malaysians but were also targeting individuals from various countries.
He warned the public against falling for syndicate offers of lucrative payments and free holidays, which could ultimately lead to them being exploited as drug mules.
Op Lejogaster, conducted between July 12 and Aug 3, resulted in the arrest of nine suspects aged between 22 and 51 in three separate raids in Penang, Selangor and Negeri Sembilan.
Hussein said the operation also rescued four foreigners from further exploitation by the syndicate.
The first raid on July 12 was conducted outside the lobby of a hotel in Bayan Lepas, Penang, where two suspects were arrested.
A search of a Mazda CX-5 uncovered two luggage bags containing 60 packets of suspected cannabis weighing 31.72kg.
Police subsequently searched a house in Bayan Lepas and seized another 60 packets of cannabis weighing 31.14kg.
On Aug 3, a second raid at a house in Taman Bukit Citra, Mantin, Negeri Sembilan, led to the arrest of one suspect and the seizure of 10 luggage bags containing 170 packets of cannabis weighing 175.76kg.
Police then arrested five more foreigners in the Sepang area of Selangor, four of whom were believed to have acted as drug mules.
A third raid was conducted on the same day at Penang International Airport in Bayan Lepas, where another foreign national was arrested with two luggage bags containing 60 packets of cannabis weighing 31.65kg.
In total, police seized 270.27kg of cannabis worth about RM21.62 million, along with 0.5 gramme of methamphetamine.
Various assets worth an estimated RM117,172 were also seized, including jewellery, mobile phones, laptops and a Honda CR-V.
The case is being investigated under Section 39B of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952. - August 11, 2026
