KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 29 — The Royal Malaysia Police (PDRM) are tracing a drug trafficking syndicate in the country believed to have recruited five Malaysians as drug mules before they were detained by Indonesian authorities in Jakarta on Friday (September 25).
Bukit Aman Narcotics Criminal Investigation Department (NCID) director Datuk Hussein Omar Khan said the suspects, four men and a woman aged between 21 and 30, were detained at the Soekarno-Hatta International Airport.
They were suspected of attempting to smuggle 5kg of synthetic drugs of the etomidate type, concealed in the insoles of their respective shoes.
“An inspection was conducted on the suspects after Indonesian Customs and Excise officers became suspicious of the movements of the five individuals.
“Initial checks found that each of them was carrying two packets of powder suspected to be etomidate, weighing about 500g per packet,” he said when contacted today.
Hussein added that PDRM received information from the Indonesian National Police's (POLRI) Criminal Investigation Agency's (Bareskrim) Directorate of Narcotics Crime (Dittipidnarkoba) regarding the detention of the five Malaysians.
The arrests involved three individuals from Sarawak and two from Pahang, with one of the suspects having three previous criminal records related to drug offences, while the other four had no previous records.
He said the authorities had detected a new trend of etomidate smuggling.
The media previously reported that authorities detained the five suspects shortly after they landed in Jakarta on a flight from Kuala Lumpur on September 25.
Following their detention, the Indonesian authorities uncovered a secret laboratory producing vape liquid containing drugs at an apartment in North Jakarta.
