There's never a day that passes by without us reading of foreigners getting caught attempting to smuggle drugs into Malaysia. The drugs that are smuggled in are either to be consumed in the country or to be transit to another country. The amount of drugs smuggled are not small - in grams and so on, but in the kilos worth millions of ringgit. Why are foreigners - Iranians, Africans, Latin Americans - continue to smuggle drugs knowing that the penalty is death. The way they smuggle sometimes borders on the ridiculous and the hilarious. There was one instance in which an African was caught trying to smuggle several kilos of drugs in hollowed-out cassava (tapiocca) only to be apprehended by the Customs authorities at KLIA. An Iranian was caught trying to smuggle drugs in packs of cosmetic goods. There are some others that swallowed drugs using condoms that burst in their stomach to their utter misfortune.
Regardless of whatever ways, smuggling drugs are on the increase in terms of frequency and quantity. It's as though these foreigners were ignorant of the laws (an unlikely scenario since drug smuggling has been given wide publicity, not only in Malaysia but in other Asean countries). Most likely, they do it because they know they can get away with it, due to the lack of enforcement but most probably due to the laxed justice system in Malaysia.
The smugglers get away with smuggling due to the propensity of the Malaysian judiciary to declare court cases involving drugs as ones that have no prima facie just because the prosecutors arguments are not as strong as those of the defendants as, for example, dismissal on mere technicalities when the drugs concerned were ketamin when in fact they should have been methamphetamine. Sometimes even slight conflict in weights of the drugs was enough to dismiss court cases. When initially the Police may charge a smuggler for bringing in say 1 kilo of heroin, it is later confirmed by the Chemistry dept. that the weight is actually 0.9 kilo and the weight differential is sufficient reason for a Malaysian judge to dismiss the case as one that has no prima facie. What a farce.
The Malaysian judiciary doesn't seem to be concerned with the drug menace in this country, what a drug does to us and the young generations. All it bothers is the letter of the law. If there's a slight flaw in the evidences given, or there's no direct evidence, then the case doesn't merit to be heard in court and hence to be dismissed outright. The judge is satisfied that he reckons he or she has done a good job - as a dispenser of true blue Malaysian justice.
The authorities should come down hard on these foreign smugglers especially and also on the local smugglers. A psychological war of the same intensity as that conducted during the Emergency days of yesteryears should be declared. Treat drug smuggling as terrorism and drug smugglers as terrorists. Given half a chance, incarcerate them in prisons for a lifetime or, better still, hang them. Tell the world we mean business. Always look askance at foreigners coming into the country especially at those from Africa, Latin America and the Middle East, and especially at those who make repeat visits. Always believe that for every kilo of drug that gets apprehended, 10 kilos manage to enter the country.
Update 13/10/2011 Thursday: True enough, before the week is out, the Police has caught one African and a Laotian to be involved in 4.5 kilos of syabu worth RM 70,000. In a separate incident, 7 Iranians (4 of whom were women) and a local were apprehended by the Police for being involved in 16.5 kilos of syabu worth RM 4.125 million in several raids in KLIA from last Thurday. The criminals smuggled the drugs in hair spray containers the upper part of each was filled with a small container of hairspray while the lower was filled with drugs. The smugglers are using all sort of ways, such as in the handles of their bags and so on to bring drugs into the country. Another tactic is to leave the bag with drugs so that it can be kept by the Lost & Found office of KLIA and to send an unsuspecting local to recover the bag. The authorities have since been wise to this tactic.
