[Butiqueso]

Thursday September 9, 2010

75 Malaysians held for drug trafficking and other cases

By CHOW HOW BAN
hbchow@thestar.com.my

BEIJING: A total of 75 Malaysians have been arrested in China for drug trafficking and other smuggling cases. Of this number, 57 were charged with drug crimes with many of them claiming that they were used as mules to smuggle drugs into China. The southern provinces of Guangdong, Fujian and Hainan saw the detention of 33 alleged drug traffickers. This was followed by Hong Kong (13), East China (9), North China (1) and Macau (1).

The Malaysian Embassy in China, which disclosed the figures, said almost all the alleged traffickers could not escape capital punishment in the country. Malaysian Ambassador to China Datuk Iskandar Sarudin said 13 drug trafficking cases were pending investigations while the others were on trial or waiting to be prosecuted.

Compared with the total number of foreigners caught in China for drug trafficking, the number of Malaysian traffickers was actually quite small, he told The Star on Monday. According to the Chinese Public Security Ministry, police arrested 1,559 drug traffickers of foreign nationalities last year. The authorities arrested 91,000 criminal suspects and confiscated 28.8 tonnes of drugs.

“It is important for us to tell Malaysians back home that they should be extra careful with syndicates, which will continue to attract young Malaysians and use them as drug mules,” Iskandar said. Chinese law says anyone caught with 50g or more of drugs can face the death penalty.