SEPANG: Customs officers seized some 30kg more in drugs last year compared to 2013, taking their haul to 347.46kg of the narcotics estimated to be worth RM62.2mil.
KLIA Customs director Datuk Chik Omar Chik Lim said last year, the department managed to detect 33 cases and arrested 24 people.
“This was higher than 2013 when we seized 317.17kg of drugs worth RM46.5mil and arrested 53 people.
“Between January and April this year, we seized over 50kg of drugs worth more than RM9mil.
“As of Monday, we detected 11 cases of attempted drug smuggling here and arrested seven people,” he told reporters at the Customs headquarters here yesterday.
The most recent case, he said, was on Thursday when officers arrested a 34-year-old Nigerian man at an apartment in Taman Sentosa, Klang.
“He was arrested after accepting a parcel containing several packages of canned food. Some 1.33kg of syabu worth RM253,080 was seized,” he said, adding that interrogation revealed the suspect was expecting another parcel of drugs.
The suspect, said Chik Omar, had been in the country for two years on a student visa.
“However, checks revealed that the private college where the suspect was supposed to be studying had been shut down.
“He was working illegally at an auto parts warehouse in Klang,” he said.
A follow-up operation on Monday led to the seizure of a parcel from a courier service here.
“The parcel, which came from Dalhui Zhiou, China, arrived on Thursday and was believed to be on its way to the suspect in Klang.
“It contained 25 pairs of shoes with 34 packets of syabu hidden in the soles,” he said.
The 1.71kg of syabu was worth around RM324,900.
