Police have foiled an attempt to smuggle hundreds of kilograms of cannabis flowers worth more than RM12.6 million through Terminal 1 of Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA), following the dismantling of two international drug trafficking syndicates.
Selangor police uncovered the operation after carrying out separate raids at KLIA and Kota Warisan, Sepang, on April 28 and 30, resulting in the seizure of 156.7 kilogrammes of suspected cannabis and the arrest of seven foreign nationals, including a woman aged between 18 and 27, believed to be drug mules.
Selangor Police Chief Datuk Shazeli Kahar said the first raid on April 28 was initiated after MAHB auxiliary police at KLIA detected four suspicious luggage bags during routine screening at the airport.
A team from the KLIA Narcotics Criminal Investigation Department later detained three men and one woman in the terminal area. Checks on the bags uncovered 64 packages containing compressed plant material believed to be cannabis, weighing about 67.2kg, with an estimated value of RM5.4 million.
Authorities also seized RM580 in cash, 20 euros, and a luxury watch valued at around RM80,000. Initial urine tests showed three suspects tested positive for THC, while one tested negative.
In a second operation on April 30, police intercepted two more suspicious luggage bags at KLIA Terminal 1, which contained 59 packages of suspected cannabis weighing approximately 29.5kg. A 20-year-old foreign man was arrested, with drug tests again returning positive for THC.
Following intelligence gathered from the second raid, police arrested two additional foreign men aged 19 and 25 at a residence in Kota Warisan, Sepang, where four more bags containing 109 packages of compressed cannabis, weighing about 60kg, were seized.
Investigations into both syndicates are ongoing.
