Foreign students used as mules
KUALA LUMPUR: Police are alarmed at the rising trend of syndicates roping in foreign students for drug trafficking.
Federal Narcotics Crime Investigation Department (NCID) director Comm Datuk Seri Mohd Mokhtar Mohd Shariff said this year, 125 Nigerians, including 41 university and college students, have been detained for drug-related offences as of Sunday.
“Last year, we arrested 139 Nigerians, including 33 students. Most of them were arrested for drug trafficking offences,” he told a press conference in Bukit Aman yesterday.
He said the police believe that international drug syndicates are now using these foreign students to carry out their illegal activity.
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“We have detected this trend since last year. We are working closely with the administration of the universities and colleges to detain syndicate members posing as students,” he added.
Comm Mohd Mokhtar also revealed that 6,138 foreigners have been detained this year and RM161mil worth of drugs, namely syabu, ganja and heroin, were seized in multiple operations by the NCID and the Special Tactical Intelligence Narcotics Group.
In the latest operations on Sept 30 and Tuesday in the Klang Valley, the NCID arrested eight suspects, including four Nigerian men, and seized RM164,000 worth of drugs.
Other syndicate members arrested were a Guinean, a 30-year-old Ugandan man, a 38-year-old Malaysian woman and an Indonesian woman.
“The drugs were smuggled in using necktie boxes.
“These criminals are getting more creative in their attempt to evade the authorities,” he added.
Comm Mohd Mokhtar said the syabu was smuggled in from Mumbai, India, while the ganja came from Nigeria.
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