A TOTAL of 1,084 individuals have been detained and tested positive for drugs by the National Anti-Drugs Agency (AADK) at Malaysia’s border entry points between 2024 and March this year, in a series of intensified screenings targeting returning travellers, particularly from neighbouring Thailand.
AADK Director-General Datuk Ruslin Jusoh said the arrests were largely recorded during festive seasons and school holidays, including after the Songkran festival, following urine screenings conducted on Malaysian nationals returning from abroad.
He said the operation was carried out by the Border Anti-Drug Units stationed in Kedah, Perlis and Kelantan.
For 2024 alone, 494 individuals tested positive and were detained, comprising 444 men and 50 women.
Methamphetamine accounted for the highest number of cases at 148, followed by ketamine with 109 cases, tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) or cannabis with 96 cases, MDMA with 80 cases, benzodiazepines with 62 cases, ketum with 23 cases, and opiates with four cases.
“For last year, 415 individuals were detained, involving 392 men and 23 women. The highest drug recorded was methamphetamine with 140 cases, followed by ketamine (108 cases), THC (70 cases), benzodiazepines (59 cases), MDMA (31 cases), opiates (five cases) and ketum (two cases),” he said.
Ruslin added that 175 individuals had been detained so far this year up to March 31, involving 167 men and eight women. Methamphetamine remained the most detected substance with 65 cases, followed by ketamine (43), THC (32), MDMA (22) and ketum (13).
He said those detained ranged in age from 18 to their 60s.
“Everyone detained was between 18 and their 60s,” he said at the Selangor Drug-Free Aspiration Tour Programme held at Kampung Kemensah Community Hall in Ulu Klang on Sunday.
Ruslin reminded Malaysians travelling to neighbouring countries not to consume or carry prohibited substances, warning that enforcement action would be taken under the Drug Dependants (Treatment and Rehabilitation) Act 1983.
He said the consequences extended beyond the individual, often affecting families, especially when travel was done together.
“When they arrive at the border, we will conduct urine tests and if they test positive, action will be taken under the Drug Dependants Act, where they can be detained for up to two years in our rehabilitation centres,” he said.
He added that AADK had established Border Anti-Drug Units at key entry points in northern Malaysia to monitor and screen returning Malaysians, including at ferry routes in Pengkalan Kubor.
“All these units are stationed at those locations to monitor entry movements and conduct inspections, including at ferry terminals,” he said.
Separately, Ruslin said Kampung Kemensah had been selected as a Drug-Free Aspiration Tour 2026 site under the Gombak outreach programme, and designated as a Kampung Angkat Bebas Dadah (drug-free adopted village).
He said the initiative aimed to empower local communities to prevent drug abuse through continuous monitoring, awareness programmes and community-driven enforcement efforts.
“KABD is a community empowerment programme that adopts a village or locality to be guided, monitored and strengthened so that it becomes free from drug abuse activities, with a community that is aware and proactive in carrying out continuous prevention efforts,” he said. - May 10, 2026
