TAWAU: The Malaysia Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) here on Saturday foiled an attempt to smuggle 17kg of syabu estimated at RM2.5 million to a neighbouring country in their first ever drug-related case since the agency’s inception in 2005.
MMEA Tawau director Captain Siva Kumar A/L Vengadasalam (pictured, centre) said a maritime patrol team detected a suspicious speedboat at about 2.6 nautical miles from the southeast of Tanjung Batu Tinagat heading towards the Batu Payung beach at about 8.45 pm during Ops Pluto Timur.
The patrol team silently followed for about five minutes before the speedboat skipper realised they had a tail and immediately sped towards the open sea.
The MMEA officers could not see clearly the number of people on the speedboat because of the darkness but they saw two suspicious men on the beach.
“When we approached them, the two men ran away and left a yellow-patterned parcel on the beach,” said Siva Kumar during a press conference Monday.
“We found 17 black packets containing syabu from the parcel which we suspect the men were attempting to smuggle to a neighbouring country,” he said.
The drug seizures were taken to the Tawau MMEA office for further investigation under Section 39B of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952.
