Drug syndicates turn to couriers to move illicit supplies
PETALING JAYA: Police recorded 57 cases of courier services being exploited for drug trafficking between January and June this year, pointing to a sharp rise in syndicates using delivery platforms.
Police in Malaysia have documented a significant increase in drug trafficking cases involving courier services between January and June, with 57 instances reported, nearly matching the 65 cases from the entire previous year. This trend has prompted the federal narcotics police to enhance collaboration with relevant authorities. During this period, 16 arrests were made, and authorities seized 1,550.13kg of drugs and 13,957.38 litres of illicit substances.
Statistics show that courier services are increasingly being used by syndicates to avoid face-to-face contact during drug shipments. Of the 57 cases, 22 were linked to prominent logistics brands, resulting in five arrests. The remaining cases involved express delivery and courier brands, international delivery services, and other delivery companies, with a total of 3 arrests.
Seized drugs included 1,347.54kg of syabu, 65.38kg of ketamine, 59.11kg of cannabis, and 58.86kg of ecstasy pills, along with 9,887.40 litres of heroin, 4,064 litres of MDMA, and 3.98 litres of cocaine. Authorities also seized 4.96kg of kratom and 2 litres of liquid kratom. Police have been discussing with the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) and the Transport Ministry to implement stricter courier and delivery procedures, including the use of designated locations with CCTV cameras to aid in the tracing of senders and recipients.
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