SHAH ALAM, Nov 9 — Police put a stop to some “fishy business” last Friday with the arrest of a Togo national who concealed drugs in a box containing dried fish and chilli in a bid to fool narcotics sniffer dogs at the KL International Airport (KLIA).

Selangor Narcotics Crime Investigation Department chief ACP Nordin Kadir said police stopped the 32-year-old woman upon arriving from Dubai at 11.40am and found two packets of syabu weighing 2.2kg, worth RM562,000, hidden in a box filled with dried salted fish and dried chilli.

“Initially we did not find anything except for the fish and chilli, but after a more thorough search, we discovered two packets of syabu hidden in compartments of the box,” he told a news conference today.

Nordin said investigations showed that the woman received US$2,000 (RM6,192) to smuggle the drugs into the country.

“This was the first time she was entering the country and the syabu is believed to be for the local market,” he added.

In a separate case, also on Friday at the airport, KLIA and Bukit Aman narcotics police detained a Thai woman suspected of trafficking in cocaine.

Nordin said the woman, who landed from Buenos Aires, Argentina at about 10.50am, acted suspiciously, prompting them to check her luggage.

They, however, found nothing.

“However, we insisted on bringing the 26-year-old to the Serdang Hospital for an X-ray, which revealed several odd objects, believed to be capsules containing drugs, inside her stomach.

“After three days of purging, 82 capsules containing 1.1kg of cocaine worth RM240,000 were successfully removed from her body. The cocaine is believed to be not for sale in Malaysia but to be smuggled into Bangkok as the woman was scheduled to depart for Bangkok the next day,” he said.

Both women were remanded until Saturday.

Police are investigating the cases under section 39B of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952 which upon conviction carries the death penalty. — Bernama