KUALA LUMPUR: Liquid cocaine worth more than RM22 million were seized from a Guyana-registered ship which had berthed in Port Klang last week for supplies.
The ship, from Guyana, was on its way to Mozambique. The crew had decided to take the long route to avoid detection by the authorities.
But following a tip off, Malaysian police and Royal Customs Department raided the vessel on Monday where they seized 16 cartons of tins allegedly containing coconut milk and processed pineapples.
Federal Narcotics director Datuk Noor Rashid Ibrahim said the drugs, weighing 76kg, were in liquid form.
“They stopped here to get their supplies but we had a tip off on what they were actually carrying. Checks revealed that the drugs were meant for Mozambique,” he said.
Noor Rashid added that the tip off came from the United States Drug Enforcement Agency. The ship arrived in Port Klang on schedule.
“We spent several days analysing the seized items before finding the drugs,” said.
Police found 980 cartons of processed food and checks revealed that 384 tins (16 cartons) contained the liquid cocaine.
“The weight of one tin with its content is 400g but after distilling the drugs and other fluid, we found that the weight of the cocaine is roughly 200g in a tin.
“The top of the tins which contained the drugs also have a bump on it, we believe that it was due to chemical reaction.
“This is one of the most sophisticated ways of smuggling drugs which we have uncovered to date,” Noor Rashid said, adding that the new modus operandi was used to smuggle drugs in big quantities.
He explained that the drugs were dissolved in coconut milk to fool the authorities into believing it was food stuff.
No arrests were made.
Read more: Large shipment of liquid cocaine smuggled in food items – Latest – New Straits Times http://www.nst.com.my/latest/large-shipment-of-liquid-cocaine-smuggled-in-food-items-1.173587#ixzz2Cht7YBbz
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