KUALA LUMPUR: A TOTAL of 452 drug mules were arrested at Malaysian entry points between 2010 and last year.
Federal police Narcotics Department deputy director Datuk Kang Chez Chiang said the numbers had dropped due to relentless operations conducted by police at airports.
Last year, police nabbed nine drugs couriers at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport, Penang International Airport, Sandakan Airport, Senai Airport and Langkawi International Airport.
Kang said 13 were arrested in 2016; eight in 2015; 44 in 2014; 28 in 2013; 61 in 2012; 119 in 2011 and 170 in 2010.
Commenting on why Malaysians, particularly women, were often tricked into becoming drug mules, he said they were lured by friends or “lovers”.
“In the majority of the cases, Nigerians are the culprits. They are not only based in Malaysia, but can also be found in Bangkok, Guangzhou, Hong Kong, the Philippines, Indonesia and other parts of the world.
“They come in on student or business visas, but their main role would be to befriend Malaysians, especially women, with the sole intention that one day, their ‘friends’ or ‘lovers’ can be recruited to be sent to countries in Africa, Latin America and Europe to bring back bags that contain drugs,” he told the New Straits Times Press recently.
“They will sweet-talk women to win their hearts. In fact, they even manage to get some of these women to marry them.
“These wives start off as the couriers, later they even ‘recruit’ their own friends to be mules.
They offer free travel, accommodation and pocket money, in return for ‘just carrying’ a bag for them.”
Kang said, however, there were some who did not mind being mules as it was a lucrative “job”.
“Recently, a Malaysian was arrested in Bali when the authorities found drugs in his rectum.
He was travelling from Bangkok to Bali with several Indonesians.
The amount of drugs he carried was less than 100g.
“It is believed that the drugs were for the Bali market. They are sold per gramme, with each gramme able to fetch several hundred ringgit,” he said.