PUTRAJAYA: The Customs Department should increase surveillance and stop Malaysia from being tarnished as a major transit point for drug trafficking, says Datuk Seri Ahmad Maslan.
The Deputy Finance Minister also credited informants and “clean” Customs officers for playing a crucial role in cracking down on the illicit activities.
He commended the department for its largest seizure of cocaine this year in Port Klang on Monday.
“I thank the informants who have helped us to stop traffickers, and to prevent Malaysia from getting a bad name as a major transit point for drug trafficking in this region,” he added.
In Monday’s operation, Customs officers seized more than 300kg of illicit drugs, believed to be cocaine originating from a South American country, worth some RM60mil.
“The work of informants is critical, without which it will be difficult to detect the hidden drugs transiting Malaysia,” he said.
Ahmad Maslan also cited the 336kg of heroin, estimated to be worth A$268.8mil (RM790mil) hidden in solar panels, which were seized in Australia but transited Malaysia recently.
(On March 13, Australian authorities made the haul in a shipping container from Malaysia after it docked in Brisbane Port.)
“We need to be more diligent in our crackdowns,” he said yesterday after officiating a meeting here attended by officers from the Customs Department and various government agencies and bodies involved in the movement of goods.
The Deputy Minister also said that while informants were still being rewarded, the reward system for Customs officers had been stopped as they were duty-bound to carry out their tasks with integrity.
“I want Customs to increase the surveillance and checks so that such activities can be stopped.
“I also believe that it was thanks to upright Customs officers that such large seizures were made.”
Ahmad Maslan also called on the Public Service Department to increase the intake of Customs officers to meet a manpower shortage at the Customs, immigration and quarantine (CIQ) complexes and state borders, including in Sabah and Sarawak.
Customs (Enforcement and Compliance) deputy director-general Datuk Sazali Mohamad said Malaysia, as part of the Asean Customs Enforcement and Compliance Working Group, would work closely with others to share information on drug traffickers.
“Such intelligence sharing and an alert system help us in cracking down on drug trafficking and other illegal activities,” he said at the same media conference.
