SEPANG, Sept 5 — The Royal Malaysian Customs Department (Customs) has foiled an attempt to smuggle 20.14 kilograms (kg) of drugs with an estimated value of RM1.2 million hidden in a parcel declared as medical supplies on August 28 at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) Air Mail and Courier Centre here.

Its deputy director-general (Enforcement and Compliance), Datuk Sazali Mohamad said a detailed inspection of the parcel, which arrived from the Middle East on August 25, with a fake recipient address in Nilai, Negeri Sembilan, revealed 20 aluminum foil packs containing crystal powder suspected to be a type of ketamine.

"Smugglers are hiding drugs in aluminum foil and stuffing them into boxes to elude the authorities and think that it will not be detected by scanning machines,” he said in a media conference here today, adding that there has been no arrest so far as investigations were still underway.

He said the department had dealt with 74 cases with seizures valued at RM13.4 million and six arrests in the KLIA area from the start of the year until August 31, out of which 71 cases were in the KLIA Air Mail and Courier Centre, two at the arrival hall and one in the export bay. — Bernama