KANGAR: The Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) in the Kuala Perlis Maritime Zone foiled an attempt to smuggle 170 kilogrammes of compressed cannabis worth nearly RM900,000 in Kuala Perlis waters early today.
Kedah and Perlis MMEA director First Admiral Romli Mustafa said the cannabis seizure from a wooden engine-powered boat at around 3.30 am was the result of intelligence gathered by the Kuala Perlis Maritime Zone intelligence unit and continuous patrolling under Op AMAN over the past few days.
“A maritime patrol boat spotted an unregistered wooden vessel about 0.3 nautical miles west of Pulau Ketam using night vision binoculars.
“When the wooden vessel spotted the patrol boat, it changed course toward a mangrove swamp in an attempt to evade capture but was intercepted. One suspect jumped into the sea and swam toward the mangroves to escape,“ he told a press conference.
Romli said a further check of the boat revealed eight multicoloured gunny sacks containing 157 blocks of compressed dry leaves suspected to be cannabis, wrapped in clear plastic and packaging bearing foreign writing, concealed beneath fishing nets to avoid detection.
He said the syndicate’s modus operandi involved posing as local fishermen and infiltrating national waters under the cover of darkness to evade authorities. Some local fishermen are also suspected of being involved in these smuggling activities.
“The syndicate was found to be using unregistered wooden boats, likely from a neighbouring country, transferring the drugs to locally operated long-tail engine boats to bring them to shore,“ he said.
Romli said the amount of cannabis seized could have supplied over 30,000 addicts. The case is being investigated under Section 39B of the Dangerous Drugs Act of 1952.
