BUTTERWORTH – Acting on a tip-off, customs officers have smashed a smuggling network that used a courier company in Penang as a front to ship drugs overseas.
A team from the Customs Department’s narcotics unit raided the company’s office at Taman Perusahaan Nyaman in Bayan Lepas on the island about 12.45pm last Monday.
They seized more than 7kg of methamphetamine worth RM1 million, Customs Deputy Director-General Datuk Johari Alifiah told a press conference at the department’s state headquarters here.
The drugs were packed in eight parcels declared as “electronic circuit boards” for export to a country in the Oceania region.
The discovery led to the crippling of an international drug-trafficking syndicate that was collaborating with contacts in Malaysia.
“The parcels were couriered by three parties based in Kuala Lumpur,” said Johari.
"In a follow-up operation on November 4, we raided a location in Kuala Lumpur and arrested a 29-year-old man.
“We also seized two parcels that contained crystal-like drugs.”
A follow-up raid was conducted in Selayang two days later, with a 39-year-old male suspect arrested.
Johari said the authorities have obtained a seven-day remand order against the suspect to facilitate investigations.
The case is being investigated under Section 39B of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952, which carries the mandatory death sentence upon conviction. – The Vibes, November 9, 2020
