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PETALING JAYA: Police have seized a drone believed to have been used to smuggle drugs into Tapah prison.

Perak police chief Azizi Mat Aris said a prison sergeant spotted the drone on the rooftop of a building when patrolling the prison premises at 11.30am yesterday.

A dhobi bag containing drugs was found attached to the drone, Bernama reported him as saying.

“Preliminary investigations showed that inside the bag was a packet containing three plastic packets filled with white powder suspected to be heroin, weighing 122g.

"We also found two transparent plastic packets containing crystal lumps suspected to be methamphetamine, weighing 12.9g," he said in a statement today.

“Police have opened an investigation paper and the case is being investigated under Sections 39B and 39A(1) of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952.

“Police take a serious view of drug smuggling activities, especially if it involves bringing drugs into prisons. We are conducting a comprehensive investigation."

Azizi said this was the first reported case of people using drones to try to smuggle drugs into a prison.

However, this is not the first time drones have been utilised in drug operations in the country.

In June 2020, Johor police were reported to be tracking down a Singaporean man known as "Boy Setan", who was the prime suspect in an investigation into drug smuggling using drones.

This followed the arrest of two men in Singapore for using a drone to smuggle drugs from Malaysia to the republic.

Fight data retrieved from the mobile phone of one of the suspects showed that the drone was flown from Kranji to Johor Bahru and back.

In December 2022, Kelantan police arrested three men for allegedly trying to smuggle prohibited items into a rehabilitation centre in Machang using a drone.

This came after police received a report about a drone being flown above the centre. It was reported that the centre was installed with a tracking device technology and detected the drone operator in an area nearby.