SEPANG: The Customs Department seized RM2.6 million in drugs hidden in parcels falsely declared as stationery at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) Free Trade Zone last week.
The department's Central Zone assistant director-general Norlela Ismail said officers found 81.34kg of methamphetamine during a routine scan.
"The Central Zone Enforcement Division, Unit III (KLIA), detected suspicious objects inside four boxes at 10.15am on on Dec 17.
"Upon inspection, the team found 80 transparent plastic packages containing a white crystalline substance suspected to be methamphetamine, concealed in four parcel boxes.
"The gross weight of the drugs is estimated to be 81.34kg, with a value of approximately RM2,602,761.60," she said at a press conference today.
Preliminary investigations revealed that the parcels, destined for Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, were dropped off at a parcel hub in Shah Alam on Dec 13 by a Malaysian man.
The suspect allegedly used a fake shipment address under the name of a non-existent company based in Puchong, Selangor, to evade detection.
Norlela said the drugs could feed the addiction of 406,700 people.
The case is being investigated under Section 39B(1)(a) of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952, which carries the death penalty or life imprisonment upon conviction.
If not sentenced to death, offenders face at least 12 strokes of the rotan.