PADANG BESAR: The Perlis Customs Department seized cannabis and ketum leaves worth a total of RM64,300 during separate raids in the Kuala Perlis and Padang Besar areas on Feb 15.
State Customs director Ismail Hashim disclosed that 20.545 kilograms of cannabis, valued at RM62,000, was found floating in a sack in the waters of Sungai Belati during a raid near Kuala Perlis at 4.30 in the morning.
“Upon inspection, 20 compressed blocks of dried leaves suspected to be cannabis were found,“ he said during a press conference today,“ he revealed.
In the second raid, ketum leaves weighing 230kg and valued at RM2,300, were found hidden in a modified pickup truck driven by a 16-year-old local boy, he said.
He highlighted that the truck had a Thai registration number and was halted at the exit lane of the Wang Kelian Immigration, Customs, Quarantine, and Security Complex here at 11 am the same day.
“The seized ketum leaves and the pickup truck are estimated to be worth RM110,000,“ he said, adding the school-going teenager was released on a Customs bond of RM10,000.
In the course of investigations, the teenager claimed that he worked part-time earning around RM10 per trip from a smuggling syndicate to transport the leaves from the Wang Kelian area across the Malaysia-Thailand border. -Bernama