A quick drug-moving jaunt to Korea was foiled by Malaysian police this week, after they apprehended two women, and a man at a Kuala Lumpur-area hotel in the early hours of Sunday morning.
Both females were scheduled to take a flight to Busan, Korea later that day, and were caught red-handed with drugs strapped to their bodies. Bukit Aman Narcotic Crime Investigation Department investigators believe that the man attached the goods to their bodies with using tape found in the room.
Estimates put the hail of narcotics, believed to be syabu in the RM8.16 million (US$4.4 million) ballpark.
Police describe the male suspect as being 21 years old, and a member of a local syndicate associated with drug smuggling.
The female, aged 26 and 31, were found laden with 5.1kg of syabu between them, and were reportedly paid a deposit of RM1,000 (US$250), along with flight and accommodation, for their services. Upon successful delivery and return to KL, both would be given an additional RM15,000 (US$3,600) each.
Explaining that the street value of the drug was much higher abroad, officers compared an RM50,000/kg (US$12,000) price tag in Malaysia to a purported US$400,000/kg that syabu nets on the streets of South Korea.
Officers went on to add that since the beginning of 2019, 30 Malaysians have been arrested both here and overseas attempting to smuggle drugs while traveling. Locally, seven arrests were made recently in Negri Sembilan, just outside of Kuala Lumpur, in connection with drug mule syndicates.
In 2018, 71 Malaysians were arrested in connection with illegal drug mule activities.
While many will transport the narcotics using their bodies, others will travel abroad and collect the goods via courier that a gang has had sent to them.
