Two Nigerians arrested in Malaysia with cassavas

The long arm of the law caught up with two criminal minded Nigerians who flew into Malaysia on different days with the thought they could hoodwink the authorities by stuffing 9.46kg of syabu worth about 2 million Malaysian Ringgit into cassavas and sweet potatoes, but their plan was foiled by alert KL International Airport police.

Syabu is an amphetamine derivative (trade name Methedrine) used in the form of a crystalline hydrochloride; used as a stimulant to the nervous and as an appetite suppressant.

One of the suspect was nabbed on Saturday and the other on Monday.

Selangor Narcotics CID chief Asst Comm Nordin Kadir said both Nigerians had cut open the cassavas and sweet potatoes and dug holes to store the drugs.

“A steel rod the size of a pencil was used to re-attach the root vegetables which they then covered with mud,” ACP Nordin said yesterday, adding that both carried the vegetables as hand luggage.

He said it was the first entry into the country for the 32-year-old suspect who was arrested at 3.45pm on Saturday. He had brought six cassavas with him.

“The other suspect, 31, who had visited Malaysia before, was arrested at 7.30am on Monday with three cassavas and two sweet potatoes,” he said.

ACP Nordin added that the police found 11 packets of syabu in the nine cassavas and two sweet potatoes.

The case is being investigated under Section 39B of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952 which carries a death penalty