Customs central zone assistant director-general Norlela Ismail said the cases were detected in operations at the international arrival hall of KLIA Terminal 1 on Nov 1 and 2.

In the first case, an 18-year-old male passenger arriving from a European country was detained after scanners detected suspicious items in his luggage.

“A thorough check of the luggage was carried out, during which several white plastic packets containing crystal powder suspected to be ketamine were found.

“All the packets were concealed in food boxes and pre-mixed drink packages,” Norlela said in a statement today.

The seized drugs weighed 16.91kg and had an estimated value of RM845,670.

In the second case, the department nabbed a second Malaysian man carrying several white plastic packets containing crystal powder suspected of being ketamine. The drugs, weighing 14.18kg, were valued at RM709,030.

In both cases, the suspects registered their drug-laden bags as “checked baggage”.

Norlela said the cases are being investigated under Section 39B(1)(a) of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952, which provides for the death penalty or life imprisonment, upon conviction.