18 foreigners arrested in RM18 mln Customs drug haul
NILAI: The Royal Customs Department arrested 18 foreigners and seized a large quantity of drugs valued at RM18 million in a raid on a makeshift store in Kajang, Selangor, last Friday.
The drugs, heroin and ketamine, were found in 37 sacks, each weighing about 25 kg, Customs director- general Datuk Seri Subromaniam Tholasy said yesterday.
The Narcotics Branch of the Customs headquarters conducted the raid at 11.30pm following a public tip- off, he said at a press conference.
Subromaniam said the foreigners were aged between 18 and 50, and 10 of them were Pakistanis, four Myanmar and four Indonesians.
Only seven of them had valid travel documents.
They were caught in the act of unloading 1,885 white sacks from two containers to be kept at the store, he said.
“A check of the sacks, which were brought into the country through West Port in Port Klang by declaring that the contents were salt, showed that 31 contained heroin weighing 766 kg and six contained ketamine weighing 114 kg,” he said.
Subromaniam said the sacks had come from Karachi, Pakistan.
He did not rule out the possibility that a foreign syndicate was involved.
A check of the sacks, which were brou��ht into the country throu��h West Port in Port Klan�� by declarin�� that the contents were salt, showed that 31 contained heroin wei��hin�� 766 k�� and six contained ketamine wei��hin�� 114 k����
“However, we are investigating whether Malaysians were also involved,” he said.
He did not rule out the possibility that Malaysia was being used as a transit point by drug trafficking syndicates.
Subromaniam said all the suspects were being remanded for seven days from Saturday following an order from the registrar of the Bandar Baru Bangi magistrates' court in Selangor.
He also said that the case was being investigated under Section 39B of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952 which provides for the mandatory death sentence upon conviction. — Bernama
Datuk Seri Subromaniam Tholasy, Royal Customs Department director-��eneral