Shipping Container Held Malaysia's Biggest Drug Seizure in a Decade

Customs authorities in Malaysia stumbled upon the country’s largest drug seizure in nearly a decade. About 3 million “party drug” pills – an estimated value of US$18.4 million – were located in a shipping container that arrived in Port Klang from India via Hong Kong.

A customs official working the case reported that five people, including a woman and her Bangladeshi husband, had been arrested and face a possible death sentence on suspicion of drug trafficking.

Enforcement officers detained the container which had landed in the port, west of the capital Kuala Lumpur, and conducted a thorough search of its contents. To escape detection, the Erimin 5 pills were hidden in 20 boxes along with other goods like chewing tobacco. The hypnotic drug is usually prescribed for severe insomnia.

Drug trafficking carries a mandatory death penalty by hanging under Malaysia's harsh anti-drug laws. Anyone found in possession of at least 50 grams (two ounces) of methamphetamines is considered a trafficker. Since the beginning of the year – not including this instance – 86 people have been detained by Malaysian customs and $40 million in drugs have been confiscated. Death row in the country is filled with 51 traffickers.