Open sky policy, globalisation and latest technology make country a ‘transit point’ for drug trafficking

KUALA LUMPUR: They came from all corners of the world, displaying various ploys and deception.

To a certain extent they operated undetected.

They were in the drug trade, a business where the money was big and they were willing to resort to use anything including the student visit passes.

Some arrived in the country posing as businessmen or tourists to camouflage their scams.

The foreigners who were members of international drug rings were on the move most of the time, depending on the current situation and needs.

Malaysia’s open sky policy as well as globalisation and latest technology had somehow or other facilitated these drug syndicates to activate their networks, making the country a ‘transit point’.

Based on the findings of the Royal Malaysia Police’s Narcotics Department, many of the foreigners involved in the drug trade came from South Africa, Nigeria, Pakistan, Peru, India and Iran.

The latest trick employed by these foreign syndicates was using Malaysian women as ‘drug mules’ or couriers.

To bait the women, the foreign men used a ploy.

They were usually charming, good looking, know how to sweet talk and live in posh condominiums.

Most of the times, the women would fall for these sweet-talking, charming and rich-looking foreign men who gave them false promises.

According to the authorities, West Africans made up a high number of these perpetrators who tricked local women into becoming their couriers or drug mules.

These women were usually swept off their feet by offer of money and luxury life style including trips abroad.

There was also the lure of sex.

The cases where Malaysian women were tricked into being drug mules or couriers had turned into a national issue for the country as some were caught by authorities in South America and Europe.

Federal Police’s Narcotics Department deputy director (Operations) Datuk Othman Harun said in 2007 alone, 127 Malaysian women were held by authorities abroad for possession of drugs.

Due to this, the department had set up a task force to deal with the issue.

This task force collaborated with the Interpol and police of other countries to track down members of the internal drug rings who were out to fleece the local women to act as drug mules.

These foreign suspects would be detained and if no drugs were found on them, they would be deported and given warning.

These measures by the Malaysian police had resulted in the drastic dip of the drug mule cases where only 54 Malaysian women ran foul of the drug laws in foreign countries.

“For this year, as of May only eight (women) have been detected to be conned into being drug mules,” Othman told Bernama here recently.

Last year, the authorities arrested 34 foreigners — seven from Nigeria, Peru ( 11), South Africa (three), India (10), China,  Philippines and Bolivia (one each).

The drug haul was heroin (4.0 kg), cocaine (2.0 kg) and ketamine (18 kg).

From January to June this year, 17 foreigners were detained – two from Singapore, Nigeria (six), Iran (one), Pakistan (three), Thailand (two) and Indonesia (three).

The drug haul was 786 gm of syabu and 14.64 kg of heroin.

From June until August this year, authorities detained 10 foreigners for smuggling and trafficking drugs.

Five were nationals of India and Myanmar aged between 30 and 40 years old from smuggling ketamine last Aug 15.

A Filipino woman was held last Aug 28 on the suspicion of being a drug mule.

Othman said close police surveillance had forced the foreign syndicates to switch their attention to women from neighbouring countries like the Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore and Brunei.

According to the Filipino authorities, 111 women from the the Philippines were arrested for drug offences in China, Hong Kong and Macau in 2008 as compared to only 16 the year before.

Their modus operandi was the same, to ferry the drugs from South American countries like Peru, Argentina and Brazil into the country before using the women to ship the drugs to other countries.

Othman said cocaine from South America was not for local consumption, as addicts in the country did not use this drug.

Hence when their cover was blown, these drug rings resorted to using the Filipino women as drug mules to ship the drugs out particularly to Guangzhou in using Thailand as the transit point to Cambodia and Vietnam.

Apart from the Africans, the syndicates had also used men from other countries like India, Pakistan and Iran.

Othman said ketamine was the most common drug smuggled into Malaysia by nationals of India while Pakistanis were more inclined to carry heroine and Syabu.

Iranians also smuggle Syabu into Malaysia before the drug was moved to other countries particularly Japan.

The approach was the same, to win over Malaysian women before making them the drug couriers be it by air, sea and land routes, he said.

The drug rings applied various methods for their drug mules like ‘body pack’ where the drug packets were taped to the body.

The drugs were also swallowed into the gut.

An older method would be the false compartment in a luggage.

However the authorities were all-too familiar with this strategy.

Other methods included cakes of soaps that were filled with drugs, apart from picture frames and laptop computers.

The latest method was using a shirt soaked in the liquid form of drugs. – Bernama