What a shame at KK airport!
Published on: Thursday, March 01, 2018
Kota Kinabalu: A 35-year-old holding a red Mykad who smuggled in an estimated RM570,000 worth of syabu inside his baggage at the Kota Kinabalu International Airport (KKIA) on Sunday managed to give Customs officers the slip because "it was late at night and the area was dark".What was more shocking was the revelation that Customs officers do not normally conduct checks on passengers coming from Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) to Sabah as only Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB) have the authority to do so. Thus the possibility that drug syndicates may have been exploiting this loophole all this while to smuggle drugs into Sabah.
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State Customs Department Director Datuk Hamzah Sundang said customs officers conducted a check on a suspicious baggage in the KKIA domestic arrival hall after it went through the scanning machine at around 11.30pm that day.Further inspection revealed eight packets containing 8kg syabu hidden inside "Guanyinwang" green tea packets. In two separate incidents in Tawau, last year, RM410,900 worth of syabu was also seized by authorities after they found hidden inside the same tea packet brand."The suspect ran to the parking lot and Customs officers attempted to chase after him.
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But due to safety factors, the suspect managed to escape."We believe that the situation could have been dangerous for our officers if they were to give chase as it was late at night and the area was dark," he told a press conference, Wednesday.
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Hamzah said according to the passenger manifest, the suspect was believed to have come from Kuala Lumpur via Malaysian Airlines (MAS) and was in possession of a red identification card with a Permanent Resident status, adding that the suspect was believed to have planned to distribute the drugs to the Sabah market."As of the moment, JKDM does not have access to conduct inspection on passengers who arrive through the outbound domestic flight, which means that baggage and items of the particular flight do not go through customs checking. "For passengers coming from Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) to Sabah, the customs department do not conduct any checking. "Only Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB) have the authority to do so. This situation was taken advantage by syndicates to carry out drug smuggling activities," he said.He said the situation needs to be restudied from the aspect of procedure and cooperation from airport authorities is needed so the department can tighten security in Malaysian airports, specifically in Kota Kinabalu. He did not say why it took Sunday's incident in which a pusher escaped right under their noses to only now want to do something about it. Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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