PADANG BESAR: Police foiled an attempt by a drug trafficker to smuggle 16kg of cannabis worth RM49,000 into the country when he was detained at the Malaysia-Thailand border here on Wednesday.
Perlis deputy police chief Senior Assistant Commissioner Baderulhisham Baharudin said the arrest was made at 7.20am by a Padang Besar Narcotics Investigation Division officer.
The officer was staking out behind a building in Kampung Melayu under "Special Op Tapis".
"The team spotted a man walking along a 'rat lane' carrying a box after forcing his way through the border security fence.
"He ditched the box and tried to run back towards the Thailand border upon spotting the raiding team. However the team managed to apprehend him," he said at a press conference at the Padang Besar police headquarters here today.
Baderulhisham said upon inspecting the box, the team found 16 slabs of compressed plastics suspected to be cannabis, enough to supply 32,000 drug addicts.
"The suspect is a 23-year-old odd-job worker and investigation revealed that he has been active smuggling drugs into the country since November.
"He had obtained the supply at a price of RM600 for each slab of cannabis and the supply was meant for the southern peninsula region."
He added that the suspect, who had three previous drug abuse convictions, tested positive for methamphetamine.