Customs Dept seizes drugs worth RM156,000 in Miri

MIRI (July 2): The Royal Malaysian Customs Department (JKDM) has seized drugs believed to be Ecstasy, Ketamine and methylemedioxy-methamphetamine (MDMA) worth RM156,000 on June 19.

JKDM Sarawak director Norizan Yahya in a statement today said the department’s narcotics team discovered the drugs in a parcel, which was shipped from overseas, during a check at Miri Air Cargo unit in Airport Road at around 10.45am.

“Acting on information from the Sarawak intelligence team, a team of personnel from the narcotics unit conducted a check at the Miri Air Cargo unit and found a parcel suspected to be containing drugs.

“Based on the note on the parcel, the team conducted controlled delivery of the parcel to the consignee’s address but found that the address and telephone number were fake and not in service,” he said.

He said the team was then despatched to the courier’s collection office at Eastwood Industrial Estate to wait for the consignee to claim the parcel.

However, no one came forward to claim the parcel, he added.

“Following that, the parcel was confiscated. A check conducted on the parcel found three plastic packagings containing drugs suspected to be Ecstasy weighing 315g, MDMA (501g) and Ketamine (100g),” he said.

Norizan said they believed that the syndicate’s modus operandi involved using overseas courier services to ship the drugs using fake addresses and telephone numbers to avoid detection from the authorities.

He said that the case is being probed under Section 39B of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952.

Meanwhile, Norizan encourages the public to report smuggling activities by calling the toll-free line 1-800-88-8855 or visiting the nearest Customs office.