Police sniff out drugs being sneaked into prisons using drones

KUALA LUMPUR: The insidious use of drones for drug trafficking in prisons has been detected over the past few years and as of August this year, seven cases have been reported involving the use of such a modus operandi.

Bukit Aman Narcotics Criminal Investigation Department Director Datuk Khaw Kok Chin said the reported use of an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) like drones was detected in two cases each in Kedah and Melaka and one case each in Perak, Kelantan and Sarawak.

He said the confiscated drugs weighing 632.88 grammes (gm) involved various prohibited substances including ganja, syabu, yaba pills and ketamine.

“The use of drones to smuggle drugs (into prisons) is not new and was reported in Johor in 2020.

“In that particular case, a Singaporean man was arrested for the offence of drug trafficking, using a drone to fly into Singapore with a cargo of syabu (13.6 gm), ecstasy pills (11.83 gm) and heroin (2.5 gm),” he said at the Kuala Lumpur police headquarters, here today.

On Aug 9, a cunning drug dealer’s attempt to drop off drugs using drones into the Tapah Prison here failed after the gadget was found by prison officers during patrolling.

Perak police chief Datuk Azizi Mat Aris reportedly said wardens found a bag attached to a drone on the roof of the prison’s inmate block.

According to him, a plastic bag containing three packets of white powder suspected to be heroin weighing 122 gm and two plastic packets of crystal lumps (methamphetamine) weighing 12.9 gm were found.

Khaw said police have set up a special team to carry out further investigations and track down the perpetrator(s) involved in such acts.