Gan (seated fourth right) and other personnel in a photo call with the media. Miri deputy police chief Supt Stanley Jonathan Ringgit is seated at fifth right.
MIRI: Miri Airport will soon have a K9 unit to prevent it from being used as a drug smuggling transit point.
Miri police chief ACP Gan Tian Kee said the move is crucial, following the seizure of 115.8kg of syabu and the arrest of a 21-year-old man at Miri Airport on Dec 4 last year.
The biggest haul in Sarawak’s history had an estimated market value of RM21 million.
“An international syndicate recently tried to smuggle drugs weighing 115.8kg through Miri Airport but failed. I then asked the Bukit Aman Narcotics Department director to discuss with Malaysia Airports Bhd to tighten up security at the airports,” Gan said after presenting certificates of appreciation to several police personnel and the media yesterday.
He said there are five K9 units here, but only one is trained to sniff out drugs.
“We hope that the use of the K9 unit would be understood by the public. We fully understand the sensitivity of some religions
about dogs, but we must also be realistic that the usage of it is for crime prevention,” he explained.
He pointed out that only baggage suspected of containing drugs would be sniffed by the K9 unit and it would not be carried out in an open area.
Meanwhile, he congratulated police here for continuing to bring down the crime index with multiple arrests of drug abusers and the seizure of drugs from last year until Jan 9.
“Drugs are still our country’s number one enemy. We will continue to carry out raids as we want Miri to be free from drugs,” he said.
Gan also called on non-governmental organisations, government agencies, the Education Department and politicians to work closely with the police to combat drug-related issues in the state.