Fake names, dead phone numbers: How Customs unravelled a RM1m cannabis export plot at KLIA

SEPANG, Aug 13 — The use of fake sender and recipient addresses, as well as unreachable telephone numbers, was uncovered in an attempt to export 12.675 kilogrammes (kg) of cannabis buds worth RM1.014 million via courier service to a European country last July.

Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) Customs director Aspalila Ag Tuah said the addresses stated on the four packages containing the drugs were identified as being in the Klang Valley, but investigations found that the information was false.

“They used fake addresses and the telephone numbers could not be reached either,” she said at a press conference here today.

However, she said authorities were still investigating the country of origin of the cannabis buds, as Malaysia was not a producer of the drug.

On July 13, the Enforcement Division operations team seized four packages suspected of containing cannabis buds at a mail and courier centre branch.

She said an inspection found that the drugs were concealed in airtight transparent plastic bags placed inside children’s toy boxes and were believed to have been intended for export to a European country.

In a related development, she said the Customs Department was informed that two pieces of luggage containing 47.8 kg of cannabis buds worth RM3.824 million, seized on July 14, had been kept at the Lost and Found section of KLIA Terminal 1 for about a month before being inspected.

Aspalila said the luggage was supposed to have been carried on a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Langkawi but was left unclaimed for 30 days.

Asked whether closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage was being reviewed to identify the individual who left the luggage, Aspalila said all angles would be taken into consideration as investigations were still ongoing, including into the identity and nationality of the individual believed to be linked to the luggage. — Bernama