1.5kg syabu hidden in bag handle

Lee Shi-Ian
New Straits Times
03-31-2010
1.5kg syabu hidden in bag handle
Byline: Lee Shi-Ian
Edition: Main/Lifestyle
Section: Main Section

SEPANG: Two Iranian men were arrested at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport on Monday night after police found RM375,000 worth of syabu hidden inside the handle of their trolley bag.

Selangor narcotics department chief Assistant Commissioner Nordin Kadir said they received a tip-off and a team of policemen waited in ambush.
"The two suspects arrived on a flight from Dubai about 10.50pm and were immediately detained for investigations. While checking the men's baggage, officers noticed something suspicious about the bag handle. They later found three packages concealed inside the handle."

The three packages, weighing 1.5kg, contained syabu and is believed to be meant for the local market.

Both men, in their 20s, have been detained under Section 39B of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952, which carries the mandatory death sentence upon conviction.

Meanwhile, Bukit Aman revealed that the two Iranian men were not connected with the West African syndicate which was crippled over the weekend with the arrests of eight Nigerian men.

According to initial investigations, West African syndicates normally do business with their fellow countrymen who are based in neighbouring countries including China," deputy Narcotics director Datuk Othman Harun said.

He revealed that of the eight Nigerians nabbed, three used student visas while the remaining five had entered Malaysia using social visit passes.

"Based on past records, some African syndicate members are willing to fork out thousands of ringgit in tuition fees at prestigious local private colleges in order to obtain visas."

It is learnt the syndicate carried out the majority of its recruitment via the Internet where they would search for potential drug mules in various chat rooms.

On certain occasions, the syndicate members would also recruit foreigners by befriending them.

It is understood that there are West African communities in neighbouring countries as well as they also use the same method to recruit natives as drug mules.

Investigations also revealed that drug mules who smuggle drugs to and from Latin America are normally paid between US$3,000 (RM9,900) and US$5,000 (RM16,500), depending on the amount of drugs carried.

Drug mules operating in the Asian region are paid about US$500 (RM1,650) per trip.

Othman also revealed that the West African syndicates obtained their supply of cocaine from Latin America while heroin, especially the high-grade type, was brought in from East Asia.

(Copyright 2010)