Police foil Ukrainian woman's bid to smuggle in cocaine in her rectum

A Ukrainian woman was detained with 2.1 kilogrammes (kg) of cocaine worth RM500,000 at the domestic arrival terminal of Penang International Airport here, yesterday. Penang Narcotics CID chief, Supt Guan Beng Kang said the 22-year-old woman, a first-time visitor to Malaysia, was arrested at 11am upon arrival after being found behaving suspiciously.

"Police followed the woman and detained her after she came out of the toilet," he told reporters here today.

Upon inspection it was found she was carrying four chocolate tins containing 108 packages of suspected cocaine, weighing 2.1kg, packed in colourful chocolate wrappings and placed at the bottom and packed with real chocolates on top.

"The woman who entered the country using a tourist pass also hid some of the drugs in her rectum and removed it upon arrival at the airport," said Guan. The woman had taken the flight on Dec 29 from Ukraine, before transiting at Dubai and arriving at KL International Airport (KLIA) on Dec 30.

"She transited at KLIA before flying to Penang on a domestic flight hoping to dupe the authorities," he said.

Guan said further investigations were ongoing to determine the source of the drugs and police did not rule out the possibility that it was for a syndicate in this country.

He said it was found that the woman, however, did not have any information to whom to hand over the drugs to. It was understood that the syndicate would contact her as soon as she arrived in Penang.

Guan said further investigations were being carried out including tracking syndicates in this country believed to have links with international drug trafficking networks to bring in prohibited substances.

"The woman who is single and unemployed also tested positive for drugs. She has been remanded for seven days to facilitate investigations," he said.