Vietnamese man held with 6.7kg drugs at Senai airport

JOHOR BARU: A 50-year-old Vietnamese man was nabbed while trying to smuggle in 6.74kg of methamphetamine in his luggage via Senai Airport here recently.

Deputy Finance Minister Datuk Ahmad Maslan, on an official visit to the state Customs Department here yesterday, told reporters the Vietnamese man took multiple connecting flights and tried to smuggle the drugs worth RM1.281mil by hiding them inside a secret compartment in his luggage.

“Customs officials however managed to uncover his attempt at around 4.15pm on Sept 25 and apprehended him,” said Ahmad.

He added that the suspect was currently being remanded to assist with investigations and the case had been classified under Section 39B(1)(a) of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952 which carries a death sentence upon conviction.

Ahmad said smuggling drugs via smaller airports in the country was the new modus operandi of international drug trafficking syndicates.

“We believe that this could be due to the extra tight security measures at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport.

“There have been several such cases in airports throughout the country this year and Johor alone has recorded five cases since January,” he said.

He added that the last case involved a South African woman who was caught with 4.9kg of drugs worth RM931,000 on Sept 12.

“We are studying the new trend and will tighten security at these smaller airports,” he said.

Meanwhile, Johor Customs Department director Datuk Ramli Johari said the state would also be introducing a new unit called the Customs Border Management to deal with smuggling activities.

“This will not involve additional personnel but is a new way of managing the current manpower to eradicate smuggling especially at Johor’s borders,” he said, adding that operations should begin by the end of the year.