KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 24 — They come from all corners of the world, plying their trade using various ploys and deception. But their trade is drugs, a business where the money is big and they are willing to resort to anything including student visit passes. Some arrive in the country posing as businessmen or tourists to camouflage their scams.
The foreigners, members of international drug rings, are on the move most of the time.
Malaysia's open sky policy as well as globalisation and latest technology made it easier for these drug syndicates to operate, making the country a “transit point”.
Based on the findings of the police's Narcotics Department, many of the foreigners involved in the drug trade came from South Africa, Nigeria, Pakistan, Peru, India and Iran.
The trend of these foreign syndicates is to get Malaysian women as “drug mules” or couriers.
To bait the women, the foreign men would be charming and good looking, and live in posh condominiums.
Most of the time, women would fall to these sweet-talking foreign men who made them false promises.
According to the authorities, West Africans made up a high number of these perpetrators who tricked local women into becoming their couriers or drug mules.
These women were usually swept off their feet by offers of money and a luxurious lifestyle including trips abroad. There was also the lure of sex.
Cases where Malaysian women were tricked into being drug mules have turned into a national issue for the country as some were caught by the authorities in South America and Europe.
Police Narcotics Department deputy director (Operations) Datuk Othman Harun said in 2007 alone, 127 Malaysian women were held by the authorities abroad for possession of drugs.
Due to this, the department set up a task force to deal with the issue. It worked with Interpol and police of other countries to track down members of the drug rings.
These measures by the Malaysian police had resulted in a drastic dip in the drug mule cases where only 54 Malaysian women were caught in foreign countries last year.
"For this year, as of May only eight (women) have been conned into being drug mules," Othman said recently.
Last year, the authorities arrested 34 foreigners — seven from Nigeria, Peru ( 11), South Africa (three), India (10), China, the Philippines and Bolivia (one each). The drug haul was heroin (4kg), cocaine (2kg) and ketamine (18kg).
From January to June this year, 17 foreigners were detained — two from Singapore, Nigeria (six), Iran (one), Pakistan (three), Thailand (two) and Indonesia (three). The drug haul was 786g of syabu and 14.64kg of heroin.
From June until August this year, authorities detained 10 foreigners for smuggling and trafficking drugs.
A Filipino woman was held on Aug 28 on the suspicion of being a drug mule.
Othman said close police surveillance had forced the foreign syndicates to switch their attention to women from neighbouring countries like the Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore and Brunei.
According to the Filipino authorities, 111 of women from the Philippines were arrested for drug offences in China, Hong Kong and Macau in 2008 compared to only 16 the year before.
Their modus operandi was the same, to ferry the drugs from South American countries like Peru, Argentina and Brazil into the country before using the women to ship the drugs to other countries.
Othman said cocaine from South America was not for local consumption as addicts in the country did not use this drug.
Hence when their cover was blown, these drug rings resorted to using the Filipino women as drug mules to ship the drugs out.
Apart from the Africans, the syndicates had also used men from other countries like India, Pakistan and Iran.
Othman said ketamine was the most common drug smuggled into Malaysia by nationals of India while Pakistanis were more inclined to carry heroine and syabu.
Iranians also smuggled syabu into Malaysia before the drug was moved to other countries particularly Japan.
The approach was the same, to win over Malaysian women before making them drug couriers. — Bermama
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