Malaysia’s federal narcotics department said it broke up an international syndicate that used terrace houses near airports as transit points for cannabis buds bound for Europe, announcing the results on 11 August 2026.[1][2] Operation Lejogaster ran from 12 July to 3 August 2026 after intelligence work by Bukit Aman NCID.[1][2]
Nine men aged 22 to 51 — one Malaysian and eight foreigners — were arrested in three raids in Penang, Negri Sembilan and Selangor.[1][2] Police said they also removed four foreigners from exploitation as mules.[1][2] On 12 July officers arrested two men outside a Bayan Lepas hotel and found about 31.7 kg of cannabis buds in luggage in a car, then about 31 kg more at a nearby house.[1][2] On 3 August a search in Mantin, Negri Sembilan, yielded about 175.8 kg in ten bags; five more foreigners were arrested in Sepang, four of them described as mules, and another man was stopped at Penang International Airport with about 31.6 kg.[1][2]
In total the force seized 270.27 kg of cannabis buds, which it valued at about RM21.62 million, along with 0.5 g of methamphetamine and assets including jewellery, phones, a laptop and a vehicle.[1] Investigators said the group had been active since about April, bringing buds in through Malaysia’s northern border and staging them near Bayan Lepas and Nilai before airport hand-offs; tighter KLIA screening had pushed the network toward Penang.[2] The case is under Section 39B of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952.[1]