LOW AIR FARE ALSO LURE DRUG RINGS TO USE KL AS TRANSIT

Kuala Lumpur: The low-fare promotions mounted by airline companies in the
country have not only lured frequent travellers, but also international
drug syndicates to use Malaysia as their transit point.

Narcotics Crime Investigation Department Director, Datuk Zul Hasnan
Najib Baharuddin, said the syndicates had been taking advantage of
the low air fares to get foreign nationals in the country to smuggle
out the drugs for them.

"The drugs were brought in from other countries and the syndicates
would then hire foreign nationals staying in the country to take the
drugs out, using the low fares offered by the airlines," he told a
press conference at the Kuala Lumpur police contingent headquarters,
here, Friday.

He said such activities were revealed following several arrests
involving Singapore, Indonesia and Philippine nationals recently.

He added that locals were no longer hired as mules by the
international drug syndicates after the police formed a special task
force last year to combat their activities.

"Several enforcement operations mounted by the task force throughout
last year saw 85 Malaysians arrested abroad, and this resulted in the
drug syndicates, run by foreigners, to resort to using foreign
nationals in Malaysia as their drug mules," he explained. - Bernama