BUTTERWORTH, May 12 — The Royal Malaysian Customs Department (JKDM) seized 1,063.206 kilogrammes (kg) of ecstasy pills worth over RM78 million from a container that was brought in from Europe at the North Butterworth Container Terminal (NBCT) here on May 6.

Its director-general, Datuk Zazuli Johan said that, based on information and intelligence, his men inspected the container at the NBCT at 9am and arrested a 48-year-old man, a shipping agent.

"Upon inspection, we found it was filled with 20 silent compressors units, with 14 of them having been modified to stash packages containing ecstasy pills of various colours. The container was brought in from Europe.

"The pills weighed 1,063.206kg and the market value is estimated at over RM78 million. This is the biggest drug seizure this year,” he told a media conference.

He said that investigations are going on, including to identify those involved in the large-scale import of the drugs.

He said the syndicate’s modus operandi was to hide drugs in the compressor units and, upon arrival in Malaysia, the items would be incorrectly declared to deceive the authorities.

"Based on preliminary investigation, through the Customs Form 1, it was found that the contents of the container have yet to be declared,” he said, adding that the suspect has been remanded for seven days to assist in investigations under Section 39B of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952. — Bernama