RM26mil drug smuggling perfect to a ‘tea’ – so they thought

Over 506kg found in Chinese tea packets

Four nabbed as drugs weighing 506kg are discovered stuffed inside Chinese tea packets in what is believed to be the biggest drug bust by the police so far this year. The value of the drugs – over RM26mil.

GEORGE TOWN: Drugs worth over RM26mil were found stuffed inside Chinese tea packets in what is believed to be the biggest drug bust by the police so far this year.

In a series of six raids at several locations on the island on Tuesday evening, the police seized more than 506kg drugs, including methamphetamine and ecstasy pills.

They also arrested four men aged between 35 and 59.

Bukit Aman NCID deputy director Deputy Comm Datuk Kang Chez Chiang said the raids were conducted by police officers from Bukit Aman and Penang with cooperation from the Thailand Narcotics Operations Bureau and the Thailand Office of Narcotics Control Board.

“We found 506kg of methamphetamine packed as tea leaves in 473 packages, and 26,000 (7.7kg) ecstasy pills in 13 packages,” he said at a press conference at the Penang police headquarters yesterday.

He added that the police seized three cars, RM20,000 cash, jewellery and a watch, all of which were worth RM147,000 during the raids.

All four men arrested have prior drug and criminal records while two also tested positive for drugs, he added.

DCP Kang said the drugs were believed to have been brought in from the “Golden Triangle”, referring to the area that intersects Thailand, Laos and Myanmar, and entered Malaysia through Thailand.

“We believe Penang has been used as a transit state for smuggling and distribution activities before it was sold in the local market or exported.

“Apart from neighbouring countries, we believe these drugs are also exported to countries such as Australia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Japan, Taiwan and Indonesia,” he said.

He said similar packages were found in Indonesia, which led police to believe that the drugs were meant to be exported.

From Jan 1 to Aug 16 this year, police had seized 1.6 tonnes of methamphetamine, he added.

“If you include this raid, we have surpassed 2.1 tonnes.

“It has been a great year so far for the police as we have broken several records, including this one,” he said.