Its principal assistant director Zulkifli Ali, in an exclusive interview with Bernama recently, said Singapore recorded the highest number of Malaysian drug mules, with 175 people languishing in its prisons.
It was followed by Indonesia, where 85 Malaysians have been arrested, Thailand (49), Australia (34) and 21 people in Japan.
“In Latin American countries such as Argentina and Brazil, there are two Malaysians in custody in each country while one has been detained in Peru.
However, he said, the number of Malaysian drug mules arrested abroad has been declining since 2016, where a total of 101 locals were incarcerated before it dropped to 58 people in 2017.
As of October this year, only 39 Malaysians have been arrested abroad.
The decline was attributed to continuous enforcement by the authorities.
Zulkifli also said that in order to avoid detection, the Nigerian-led syndicates have switched to using social media to recruit their victims.
“They (syndicates) use Facebook, WhatsApp, WeChat and others to carry out drug smuggling activities, specifically to recruit drug mules online to avoid detection,” he said.
He added that the international syndicates, often masterminded by African nationals, have been recruiting and hiring Malaysians, especially women, by paying for their flights to certain countries.
The women would be given RM2,000 pocket money and promised a reward of between RM5,000 and RM10,000 once they succeed in their mission.
“It is an easy way to earn money as their financial situation is the main factor for them to commit these crimes even though they are fully aware of the risks involved.
“The victims, either married to the syndicate members or otherwise, will be asked to smuggle the drugs and if they succeed, these women will also recruit their friends for the same purpose,” he said.
Zulkifli said based on the intelligence gathered, Nigerian nationals were believed to be the main culprits in luring Malaysian women and most of these syndicates were based in countries such as Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines, Indonesia and China.
The syndicates’ members entered the country using student passes or business visas to establish relationships with local women and to win their hearts or even marry them.
Meanwhile, Zulkifli said Malaysians were also involved in smuggling drugs such as “syabu” by using the ‘body packing’ (drugs attached to body using adhesive tape, glue or straps) method and in November alone, four locals have been detained at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport 2 (klia2) for allegedly trying to smuggle out more than 4kg of syabu to South Korea.