Malaysian police smash cross-border drug ring, seize US$1 million of meth disguised as tea

Malaysian police have crippled a cross-border drug syndicate with the seizure of 86.2kg of methamphetamine worth 4.31 million ringgit (US$1 million) in Penang and Selangor.

The bust resulted from intelligence sharing between Malaysian and Thai police after Thai authorities seized 166kg (370lbs) of suspected methamphetamine from a Malaysian man in Hua Hin on August 8.

Penang police chief Dennis Lim Kwang Keng said the information led to Ops Zoraptera, resulting in the arrest of four suspects – three Malaysian men and a Thai woman aged between 19 and 25. The Thai woman is the wife of one of the Malaysian suspects, and both were charged in the case.

Lim said Malaysian police arrested the four suspects in Selangor on August 13. The following day, police seized a luxury sedan near Hotel Aroma in Butterworth, Penang, and found 83 packets disguised as tea bags containing 86.2kg of methamphetamine concealed in the vehicle.

Lim said the syndicate also modified vehicles with hidden compartments to transport the drugs. “Each person involved in transporting a shipment was paid 6,000 ringgit per trip,” he said at a press conference in George Town on Tuesday.

Police also seized five vehicles worth 420,700 ringgit, bringing the total value of the Malaysian seizure to 4.73 million ringgit.