Crime & Courts

IGP dismayed over RM790m of drugs escaping undetected to Australia

KUALA LUMPUR: Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Acryl Sani Abdullah Sani said police were investigating how a massive shipment of heroin seized by Australian authorities had bypassed checks in Port Klang.

He said it was evident that a drug syndicate used Malaysia as a transit point for packaging before the narcotics were sent to another country.

"In the case of the heroin shipment, we know it didn't come from Malaysia.

"But we have to find out how it was brought in here, processed and repackaged before it was sent to a third country.

"We are investigating where the enforcement weaknesses lie.

"This means that in terms of tackling drug smuggling in Malaysia, we still have a long way to go," he said at a Singgah Sahur programme with police personnel at the Kuala Lumpur police headquarters yesterday.

He said his biggest concern was weakness in enforcement, which led to a failure to detect the inflow and outflow of drugs in the country.

"The most damaging thing is how we (the authorities) had missed a consignment so large that it was spotted in a third country.

"This means that we must review the information sharing network and our investigative system. We don't want this to reccur," he said.

On March 13, Australian authorities in Brisbane intercepted 336kg of heroin, valued at RM790 million, hidden in a shipment of concrete. It was reported that the shipment came from Malaysia.

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