Malaysian airport police detain Indonesian woman, seize drugs

Jun 23, 2011, 8:12 GMT

Kuala Lumpur - Malaysian airport police have arrested an Indonesian woman suspected of attempting to smuggle methamphetamines worth 1.4 million ringgit (466,700 dollars) into the country, a newspaper reported Thursday.

Customs police from the northern Penang state airport detained the suspect, in her 40s, early Wednesday upon her arrival from Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, the New Straits Times daily reported.

Officials searched her luggage after becoming suspicious while they were screening her bags, said Zulkifli Yahya, state customs director.

'The officer found two packets containing white crystalline powder, weighing about 5.78 kilogrammes, hidden in a special compartment of the bags,' he was quoted as saying.

Zulkifli said the woman was detained pending investigation, adding that she was likely to be charged with drug trafficking, which carries the mandatory death sentence by hanging if convicted.

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