Malaysia to clamp down on rising number of foreign drug traffickers

Wed, 10 Nov 2010

Kuala Lumpur - Malaysia will enlist the aid of international enforcement agencies to clamp down on rising numbers of foreign drug smugglers, a media report said Wednesday.

In the first nine months of 2010, 382 foreigners were arrested for suspected drug trafficking, a 70-per-cent increase over the same period last year, said Abu Seman Yusop, deputy home minister.

Myanmar nationals topped the list with 120 suspects, followed by 97 Iranians and 39 Thai nationals. Other nationalities included Indonesians and Nigerians, Abu told parliament.

He said the government was concerned over the increasing number of foreigners being used as drug mules, and promised to strengthen efforts to combat the trade. "These include stepping up cooperation with foreign enforcement agencies to exchange intelligence information and establishing a profile of suspected drug couriers flying into the country," he was quoted as saying by the official Bernama news agency.

He said police would also increase surveillance at international airports and borders.

Although drug trafficking carries the mandatory death penalty in Malaysia, smuggling is rampant as the country is used as a transit point to channel the drugs to neighboring South-East Asian nations.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/352819,lily-allen-loses-baby-number-foreign-drug-traffickers.html.