KOTA KINABALU (ANN/THE STAR) – A husband and wife, believed to be drug transporters, were caught with 12.58kg of syabu worth an estimated MYR402,720 during a police operation on Saturday (March 22).
The couple, aged 31 and 38, were arrested at 1.20pm at the Tawau post office by a team from the Sabah police contingent headquarters’ Narcotics Criminal Investigation Department.
Sabah Police Commissioner Datuk Jauteh Dikun said officers had been monitoring the suspects and saw them arriving in a car.
“The male suspect entered the post office and later exited carrying two boxes, acting suspiciously. Our team immediately moved in and arrested both the man and his wife, who was waiting in the driver’s seat,” he told a press conference here on Tuesday (March 25).
A search uncovered five boxes and eight packages wrapped in plastic containing a substance believed to be syabu, weighing a total of 12,585g.
Preliminary investigations suggest that the drugs were smuggled in via air courier services and were meant to be delivered to a third party.
Urine tests on both suspects came back negative for drugs, but the male suspect has a previous drug offence on his record, Comm Jauteh noted.
“We believe the couple were only acting as transporters, but further investigations are underway under Section 39B of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952,” he said.
The couple could face the death penalty, or life imprisonment with caning, if found guilty.
Comm Jauteh pointed out that the rising use of courier services for drug smuggling showed a necessity for stronger cooperation with logistics companies and the Royal Malaysian Customs Department to combat the crime.
“We will continue cracking down on these syndicates. Every arrest is a step closer to shutting down their operations,” he added.
