Syndicates luring drug mules via social media

Syndicates have come up with a new tactic to lure people to become drug mules.

Using social media platforms such as Facebook, these syndicates would offer free travel packages or large sums of money in a bid to lure Malaysians into becoming drug mules.

Federal police Narcotics Criminal Investigation Department acting director Datuk Kamarulzaman Mamat said several such cases had cropped up, making it an alarming trend.

“In most of the cases, the suspects (drug mules) will be contacted by a drug syndicate member after they take up the offer on Facebook. They will be requested to travel to Kuala Lumpur and book into a hotel, where the syndicate member will pass the drugs to them.

“The syndicate member will either strap the drugs onto their bodies or place them inside a bag to be taken to another country,” he said at the district police headquarters here.

Commenting on the case of the Malaysian couple who were arrested at Wattay International Airport in Vientiane, Laos, on May 18 for attempting to smuggle 23kg of methamphetamine into the Philippines, Kamarulzaman said the two had been offered a free travel package to Laos.

He said it was only when they arrived in Laos that they were handed the drugs and told to take them to the Philippines.

Kamarulzaman said police tightened security at airports after detecting the modus operandi.

“We have conducted six operations. In one of them, we arrested three drug mules on the same day. We urge families, especially parents, to be vigilant about who their children contact on social media to prevent them from becoming drug mules.”