SEPANG: The Customs Department has apprehended a 21-year-old man after he attempted to claim a luggage containing drugs worth RM500,000 at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) last week.
Its deputy director-general Datuk Sazali Mohamad said the man was arrested at 11.20pm on September 27 when he tried to pick up the luggage at the 'Lost and Found' section.
"The suspect didn't board his flight to Chinese Taipei, probably having cold feet."
"Our checks showed that the modus operandi of this syndicate involved concealing contraband inside toy boxes and food containers to deceive the authorities.
"However, the efforts and efficiency of Passenger Screening Branch 1 in controlling the country's entry points have yielded results by detecting the presence of drugs in these toy boxes and food containers using baggage scanning machines," he said at the Customs Cargo Complex here.
The types of drugs that were found by the Customs personnel were 4.95kg of heroin and a kilogramme of ketamine.
The man was detained under Section 39B(1)(a) of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952 and can be punished under Section 39B(2) of the same act which provides for the death penalty or life imprisonment and shall, if not sentenced to death, be punished with at least 12 strokes of the cane if found guilty.
"Based on the total weight of the drugs seized, this operation has successfully prevented distribution to approximately 30,000 drug users," he added.