Bukit Aman officers to question Malaysian pilot detained in Indonesia

Four Malaysian police officers are set to interrogate the Malaysian pilot detained in Jakarta, Indonesia, over suspected drug trafficking, as authorities expand their probe into a drug syndicate. Director of Bukit Aman's narcotics criminal investigation department, Hussein Omar Khan, revealed that the pilot would be questioned over the next two days to compare his statements with local findings.

So far, Malaysian investigators have contacted four individuals in connection with the probe, but their primary focus remains on the syndicate behind the alleged operation.

Khan emphasized that they were not solely relying on a phone number linked to the syndicate, as it had been registered under a false identity. He explained that while obtaining such a number and identifying the owner would be straightforward, the challenge lies in tracing the individuals behind it, as the number was registered under a fictitious name. The pilot was apprehended at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport on July 29, carrying 25kg of ecstasy pills and 2.7g of methamphetamine.

Additionally, Hussein reported that Malaysian authorities had dismantled an international drug trafficking syndicate through the successful execution of Op Lejogaster, a two-month operation from July 12 to August 13. The operation led to the arrest of one Malaysian and eight foreign nationals—five of whom were suspected Portuguese nationals, one Myanmar national, and two Singaporeans—in three raids across Penang, Selangor, and Negeri Sembilan.

The foreign drug mules included five individuals believed to be of Portuguese descent, based on their passports.

In the first raid on July 12, police apprehended two suspects outside a hotel lobby in Bayan Lepas, Penang, seizing two luggage sets containing approximately 31.7kg of suspected cannabis flowers. Subsequent searches uncovered another 60 packages of suspected cannabis flowers at a house in Bayan Lepas. On August 3, a raid at a property in Taman Bukit Citra, Mantin, Negeri Sembilan, resulted in the arrest of a third suspect and the seizure of 10 luggage sets, containing about 175.8kg of suspected cannabis buds.

Further operations on August 3 at Penang International Airport led to the arrest of another foreign national and the recovery of two bags containing 60 packages of suspected cannabis flowers weighing about 31.6kg.

In total, authorities seized around 270kg of cannabis and a small quantity of methamphetamine, believed to be for personal consumption, valued at approximately RM21.62 million, sufficient to supply around 630,000 users. The case is being probed under Section 39B of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952, which prescribes the death penalty or life imprisonment for drug trafficking, along with at least 12 strokes of the rotan upon conviction.