KANGAR (ANN/Bernama/THE STAR) – Perlis Customs foiled an attempt to smuggle 363kg of methamphetamine worth some MYR11.6mil during a patrol in the waters off Kuala Perlis near here on Monday (March 24).
State director Ismail Hashim said the drugs were seized from an unregistered glass-fibre boat that was spotted speeding from Thai waters to Kuala Perlis towards Sungai Baru by a team of Kuala Perlis Customs marine enforcement personnel at 3am.
He said the team intercepted the boat and instructed it to stop, but the order was ignored as the boat sped towards shallower waters.
“The team later found the boat abandoned in the waters of Sungai Siput, Kuala Perlis. The driver and several others on the boat are suspected to have fled to land. An inspection of the boat uncovered 18 white sacks and one green sack containing packages suspected to be methamphetamine worth MYR11,616,000,” he told a press conference at the Customs Marine branch in Kuala Perlis on Thursday.
Ismail added that the boat, valued at an estimated MYR85,000, was also seized.
“The syndicate’s modus operandi is to smuggle drugs in the early hours of the morning to avoid detection. The drug supply is believed to be intended for the Malaysian market. The case is being investigated under Section 39B(1)(a) of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952,” he said.
