Five Malaysians held in Japan over RM3.1mil cocaine haul hidden in shoes

KUALA LUMPUR: Four men and a woman from Malaysia have been arrested at Haneda Airport in Tokyo, Japan, for attempting to smuggle about 5kg of cocaine worth 120 million yen (RM3.1 million), hidden beneath shoe insoles, on Saturday.

The group is believed to have brought the drugs from Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA). They were discovered during Customs checks upon arrival in Japan.

Fuji News Network (FNN) reported that Customs officers became suspicious of one of the suspects after noticing that his shoes had unusually thick soles.

Inspection found cocaine hidden beneath the insoles of two suspects, prompting officers to identify three others believed to have travelled with them.

Nippon News Network (NNN) reported that they had also concealed cocaine using the same method.

TBS News DIG reported that each suspect had about 1kg of cocaine, with 500g concealed beneath the insole of each shoe.

One of the five suspects claimed he had been offered RM8,000 to transport drugs overseas through the Telegram messaging app.

He was also reportedly given a pair of shoes to conceal the drugs.

Meanwhile, NHK reported that four suspects admitted to the allegations during questioning, while a 25-year-old woman denied them.

The woman claimed she did not know that the package she was carrying contained cocaine.

Tokyo Metropolitan Police are investigating whether the group was recruited by a Malaysia-based criminal syndicate to carry out international drug smuggling.