BUSTED: Hamza (second right) and other Customs officers showing the four plastic packets of drugs that were smuggled into the country.
KOTA KINABALU: A foreign student could face the death penalty after she was caught red-handed for smuggling 5kg of drugs believed to be Syabu worth RM1.3 million into the country on Tuesday.
The arrest was made by the state Customs Department enforcement personnel at Kota Kinabalu International Airport (KKIA) around 8.30am, which according to Sabah Customs deputy director of enforcement and compliance, Hamzah Sundang, was the biggest seizure in the state this year.
The suspect, a 31-year-old woman from Kenya, was arrested at the KKIA airport after arriving from Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei on a Royal Brunei flight on Sept 13.
“Based on the flight itinerary, the suspect departed from Kenya on Sept 5 via Ethiopia and Dubai before arriving in Brunei on Monday.
“The suspect’s suspicious act caught the attention of Customs enforcement personnel. Upon inspection they found two of her luggage had been modified to hide four packets of the drugs,” he told a press conference at the Royal Malaysian Customs headquarters here yesterday.
Hamzah said the drugs were kept in a modified compartment inside both luggage and wrapped with aluminium foil and plastic bags.
Apart from the five kilogrammes of drugs, they also confiscated numerous foreign currencies, namely franc 36,000 (RM22,793), Brunei Dollar 87 (RM210), US$900 (RM2,735) and Banki Kuuga Kenya 1,800 (RM56).
The suspect is being remanded for seven days to facilitate investigation under Section 39B of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952
for drug trafficking, which carries the mandatory death penalty if found guilty.
Asked if the case is linked to any international syndicate, Hamza said it was still under investigation but did not deny that the suspect might have been lured and used as a drug mule.
“Based on early investigation, the suspect is a student of higher learning and is a part time sales girl in her country,” he said.