Perak police arrested a 29-year-old unemployed Singaporean man at Sultan Azlan Shah Airport in Ipoh at 6.20am on 8 November 2026.[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16] Auxiliary police at the check-in counter searched his baggage and found 36 plastic packages holding 19,040g of dried marijuana flowers.[1][2][17][18][19][3][20][4][6][7][9][11][21][15][16] The airport’s own auxiliary police, Polis Bantuan Lapangan Terbang Sultan Azlan Shah (LTSAS), detected the attempt during the check-in counter inspection.[9][22][15] Police found 36 transparent plastic packages containing dried cannabis flower in his zippered baggage, weighing 19.04 kg and valued at RM1.52 million.[8][12][13][23][22] Police valued the cannabis at about RM1.5 million.[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][9][10][11][12][24][14][16] Perak police said the seizure was the second drug case they had cracked at Ipoh airport.[11][16] The New Straits Times put the weight at 19.04kg and the value at RM1.52 million, an amount police said was enough to supply 47,900 drug users.[25]
The man had flown from Singapore to Kuala Lumpur and travelled to Kajang, where police believe he collected the drugs before taking an e-hailing car to Ipoh, arriving on 7 November.[1][2][17][8][11][14][15][16] Police said he was to fly from Ipoh to Singapore and then on to London to deliver the cannabis.[1][2][17][26][18][19][20][4][6][8][9][10][11][12][21][24][23][22][27][14][28][15][16] He told police he had answered an online job offer promising good pay.[1][2][26][6][8][11][21][13][22][27][16] Mohd Alwi said the suspect and the seized drugs were handed to the Perak police headquarters’ narcotics investigation department for further investigation.[11][22][27][15] Police said the offer was S$4,000 (about RM12,600) to carry luggage said to hold counterfeit luxury-branded goods to London.[10] He was allegedly told that the luggage contained counterfeit branded goods and was offered more than RM12,500 for the delivery.[12][23][14] Police said the offer was S$4,000 (about RM12,690), that the man was unemployed and that a urine screening found no drugs in his system.[25][19][5][11] The syndicate lured recruits with offers of high pay to act as drug mules, hiding the drug in passengers’ luggage for flights abroad to avoid detection.[11][27][28][29]
Perak police chief Comm Datuk Mohd Alwi Zainal Abidin said syndicates increasingly use less busy airports such as Ipoh, which has one daily flight to Singapore, to traffic drugs abroad.[25][2][30][3][20][8][10][11][14] The man was remanded for seven days from 9 November under Section 39B of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952, which carries a death sentence or life imprisonment with caning on conviction.[1][2][31][30][19][3][4][5][6][8][9][10][12][13][28][16]
The man arrived in Ipoh on 7 November after picking up the load in Kajang and travelling by e-hailing car.[2][30]
The job offer was made through a website promising payment to carry luggage said to hold counterfeit luxury-branded goods to London.[31][17][18][19][20][5][9][11][24][28][15][29] Mohd Alwi said the syndicate targeted less busy airports, with the drugs to be sent as cargo after clearing customs and forwarded to their destination.[31] A urine screening found no drugs in his system and he had no previous criminal record.[31][26][20][5][9][11][12][21][13][14][28][15][29] The case is being investigated under Section 39B of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952, which on conviction carries the death penalty or life imprisonment and at least 12 strokes of whipping.[31][24][22] Mohd Alwi said the drugs seized could have been used by about 47,900 addicts.[31][19][20][11][15]
Police chief Mohd Alwi said the suspect had been tricked by a syndicate into thinking he was carrying counterfeit luxury-branded goods, and that the 36 packets of suspected cannabis flower were found in a Caggioni-branded zippered suitcase.[30] Mohd Alwi said the suspect and the seized items were handed to the Perak Narcotics Criminal Investigation Department for investigation, and that the seizure followed intelligence-gathering and cooperation from members of the public.[30]
Perak police said the 29-year-old suspect was unemployed and had flown from Singapore to Kuala Lumpur before staying overnight and collecting the drug-filled bag in Kajang, Selangor, and leaving for Ipoh on 7 November.[18] Police said the case comes under Section 39B of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952 and that the suspect was remanded for seven days until 14 November.[18]
Police said he was a 29-year-old unemployed man travelling with a bag that seemed suspicious, and that the bag held 36 clear plastic packages of dried leaves suspected to be cannabis flower weighing an estimated 19.04 kg and worth RM1.52 million on the market.[7] Police said the man suspected the offer came through a website promising a well-paid job, and that the syndicate’s method was to deceive people with high-paying job offers and use them as drug mules carrying supplies abroad on commercial flights, hiding the drugs in passenger baggage to avoid detection.[7] Mohd Alwi said the seizure was the second largest in Perak this year and followed continued intelligence work by the state narcotics investigation department, together with cooperation from members of the public.[7][29]
