KUALA PERLIS, Nov 17 — The Kuala Perlis Maritime Zone (KPMZ) Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) successfully foiled attempts to smuggle in 300 kilogrammes (kg) of marijuana worth around RM910,000 and 1.5 tonnes of ketum leaves, worth an estimated RM120,000, in two special anti-drug smuggling operations in Perlis.
MMEA Kedah and Perlis state director Maritime First Admiral Mohd Zawawi Abdullah said in the first raid on November 15, an unregistered fibreglass boat was detained around 2.7 nautical miles north-west of Kuala Sanglang beach, Perlis at around 4.20am.
“Inspections conducted on the boat located 17 black plastic bags containing bricks of compressed marijuana, each with an estimated weight of 1kg, tied in a box and wrapped carefully with plastic, believed to be smuggled in from a neighbouring country,” he said at a media conference at the Kuala Perlis Maritime Zone Office today.
Meanwhile the second seizure involved an attempt to smuggle 1.5 tonnes of ketum leaves using a fibreglass boat in Kuala Perlis waters on November 16, a day after the marijuana seizure in Kuala Sanglang.
Zawawi said in the second seizure, the unregistered boat was successfully intercepted at 0.7 nautical miles west of the Kuala Perlis estuary at around 12.15am.
He said that the MMEA discovered the boat in suspicious circumstances, laden with its cargo of pink gunny sacks, before the boat captain sped off till the boat ran aground. He and two other crew members then managed to escape, abandoning the cargo in the boat.
He said the agency did not discount the possibility that there was some form of barter trading taking place as it had become a trend in the country’s maritime borders after the enforcement of the movement control order (MCO) at the beginning of the year.
He said both cases would be investigated under Section 39(B) of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952 and Section 30(3) of the Poisons Act 1952. — Bernama
