Peruvian with 95 cocaine capsules concealed in tummy nabbed at KLIA

SHAH ALAM, May 20:  Police have arrested a Peruvian man with 95 capsules containing cocaine hidden in his stomach at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) on May 17.

Selangor police chief Datuk Hussein Omar Khan said the drug mule, aged 20, was acting suspiciously at the international arrival hall of the airport at around 8.30 am upon arrival from a flight from Peru that transited in Dubai before reaching KLIA.

“Inspections and x-ray scans by medical officers detected suspicious images in the suspect’s stomach and he was then arrested at a nearby hospital.

“After three days, the suspect managed to expel 95 capsules containing 1,152 grams of cocaine,” he told a media conference at the Selangor contingent police headquarters here today, adding that the drugs, worth RM230,400 were believed to be for the international market.

He said the suspect, who has been remanded for seven days to facilitate investigations under Section 39B of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952, claimed that Malaysia was a transit point where he would receive further orders from the drug cartel to carry the drugs to the next destination, 

In a separate development, Hussein said that Selangor police managed to cripple two drug trafficking rings active around Petaling Jaya and Kuala Lumpur after the arrest of two men and a woman, aged between 21 and 44, who were in possession of 11,418g of methamphetamine and 43,860g of cannabis in a parking lot in Petaling Jaya on May 15. This also led to the arrest of another local man and seizure of a package of drugs hidden in his car in the same area the same day. 

 “The seizures totalled RM364,800 and the drugs were believed to be for users in the Klang Valley,” he said.

Police also arrested two local men the same day following an inspection of a four-wheel drive vehicle with 22,051g of cannabis hidden in the backseat. 

Both suspects had earlier rammed a police car that tried to stop them when conducting a check. Policemen also had to shoot twice at the tyres of the suspects’ vehicle when they tried to escape.

Investigations then led to the arrest of a third local man at a flat in Pantai Dalam, Kuala Lumpur the next day and the seizure of 21,809g of cannabis inside the house.

All suspects have been remanded for seven days for investigation under Section 39B of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952.

— BERNAMA