SEPANG: A teenager was paid RM3,000 to transport over half a million ringgit worth of methamphetamine to Sarawak.
The 19-year-old from Sarawak entered Peninsular Malaysia via a flight at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport Terminal 2 on July 18 in order to collect the drugs from the East Coast and bring it back to Kuching.
He was caught by police after the cardboard box he checked in was scanned and revealed questionable contents.
KLIA police chief Assistant Commissioner Azman Shariat said police arrested the suspect at Terminal 2 on July 19.
"We checked the box he had checked-in and found 15 green packets which contained crystals and powder believed to be methamphetamines.
"In total, we seized 15.75 kg of the drugs worth RM504,000," he told reporters at the KLIA Airport Management Centre on July 25.
He said investigations revealed the suspect had two prior records for drug related offences in Sarawak.
"Our checks revealed that the suspect was paid RM3,000 per trip to smuggle the drugs into Sarawak.
"This was his first trip. We are checking if the syndicate that hired him was involved in other similar cases this year.
"So far we have detected seven cases of attempted drugs smuggling through the airports," he said adding that some of these cases involved individuals who tried to avoid detection through self check-in luggage facilities.
He said the suspects urine tested negative for drugs, adding that the suspect has been remanded for seven days.
Those with information on similar cases can contact the Narcotic Crime Investigation Department hotline at 012-2087 222.