Bangladeshi on the run over illegal pharmacy

ARMED with a Civil Engineering Diploma from his home country of Bangladesh, a 52-year-old man has been running an illegal pharmacy in Kuala Lumpur for the past few years, reported Harian Metro.

The Bangladeshi has been running the pharmacy in Jalan Tun Tan Siew Sin here. Married to a Malaysian, he used a grocery shop selling traditional food from his home country as a front while secretly selling prescription drugs and medicine, especially those imported from Bangladesh.

The Bangladeshi’s pharmacy was uncovered on Tuesday after a raid by the Health Ministry’s Pharmacy Enforcement Division teams from headquarters and the Kuala Lumpur branch.

The raid revealed that the Bangladeshi ordered prescription drugs and medicine from his home country worth over RM90,000 on Aug 20.

The Bangladeshi’s local wife, who was present during the raid, claimed ignorance of her husband’s activities, and told authorities that she and her husband were running a grocery shop.

The Bangladeshi, however, remained at large.

The 11.30am raid also uncovered another 10 other illegal premises selling prescription drugs and medicines run by Bangladeshis in the area.

> Sinar Harian reported that many Malaysians living at the border between Malaysia and Thailand have dual citizenship, despite the risk of losing their Malaysian citizenship as the country did not permit dual citizenship.

The daily said the practice of having dual citizenship for those living at the border of the two countries was normal as many have intertwined Malaysian and Thai families.

A woman, who only wanted to be know as Maznah, said that it was not difficult for Malaysians to obtain Thai citizenship, especially if they were born in Thailand or have a Thai parent.

The woman, who lives in Rantau Panjang, said she was also in the process of applying for Thai citizenship, a process she was going through legally without the help of syndicates.

She said that her Thai father kept her Thai birth certificate, which made it easier for her to apply for Thai citizenship.

Having a Thai citizenship, she said, would help her to be eligible to inherit property that her father might leave her after he dies, she said.