SEREMBAN: Negri Sembilan police foiled an attempt to smuggle 9.238kg of drugs believed to be syabu (methamphetamine), worth RM476,180, to Indonesia at the Port Dickson Passenger Jetty Terminal two days ago.
Negri Sembilan police chief Datuk Alzafny Ahmad said an Indonesian man, in his 20s and believed to be a drug mule, was also arrested after he was spotted acting suspiciously while carrying a medium-sized black suitcase at the terminal about 9.30am.
He said that upon inspecting the suitcase, police found a modified compartment used to conceal six packages containing about 5kg of drugs believed to be syabu, along with clothing.
“Following the arrest, we conducted a further search at a condominium in Cheras, Kuala Lumpur, where the suspect had been staying since arriving in the country on Nov 4, and found another piece of luggage containing the same type of drugs, weighing about 4.238kg.
“The suspect is a recent graduate in Islamic Studies and Arabic Language from a higher education institution in Aceh, and had come to Malaysia in search of employment. At the time of his arrest, he was believed to be en route to Tanjung Balai, Indonesia,” he told a media conference.
Alzafny said investigations found that the suspect was believed to have entered Malaysia for the first time, based on the entry stamp in his passport, and was suspected of having been contacted by another Indonesian man in Malaysia before being offered a job to transport drugs back to his home country.
He said the suspect was promised a payment of 30 million rupiah (about RM6,777) for every successful drug delivery.
“He was given a choice of either working at an eatery or restaurant, or taking the risk of transporting drugs to Indonesia. He tested negative for drugs and has no previous criminal record,” he added.
He said police believed that the suspect might have returned to Malaysia to collect another piece of luggage for a subsequent delivery, had the first attempt been successful.
Alzafny said police are intensifying efforts to track down the other Indonesian man, believed to be the supplier of the drugs, who is still in Malaysia.
He said the operation was carried out based on intelligence gathering and cooperation with the Customs Department, after receiving information about drug smuggling activities via sea routes from Malaysia to Indonesia.
“Following the information received, I instructed the Narcotics Crime Investigation Department (NCID) to conduct surveillance whenever ferries operated at the terminal, which provides ferry services to Dumai and Tanjung Balai in Indonesia, with two return trips daily,” he added.
He said police also did not rule out the possibility that the sea route was being used by syndicates to smuggle drugs into Indonesia for the country’s market.
The case is being investigated under Section 39B of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952.