PUTRAJAYA, Nov 17 — The Royal Malaysian Customs Department (JKDM) Central Zone Unit III (LTA Kuala Lumpur) foiled an attempt to smuggle an estimated RM86,800 of heroin, hidden in the ‘marking labels’ of floor tile commodity trading boxes, when they raided a premises in Nilai, Negeri Sembilan on Nov 6.
Central Zone JKDM enforcement operations director Wong Pun Sian said LTAKL enforcement officers together with a Customs Operational Battle Force Response Assault (COBRA) team carried out an inspection on 36 suspicious-looking trading boxes of floor tile commodities at the premises during the raid at about 1 pm.
He said 59 transparent plastic packets, containing white powder believed to be heroin, weighing 1.013 kilogrammes (kg), were found hidden inside the marking labels which were laminated and placed in the tile boxes.
Wong said preliminary investigations found that the goods were bound for Australia but were believed to have been sent to the premises in Nilai for packing and fumigation purposes before being sent to Port Klang for export.
“The modus operandi of the syndicate is to stash these drugs into plastic packets and then conceal them behind the marking labels in an attempt to dupe the authorities,” he said in a statement today, adding that the case is being investigated under Section 39B(1)(a) of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952.
