Syndicate trafficking drugs inside bicycle tyres

The Customs Department smashed a drug trafficking syndicate which used courier services to distribute drugs hidden in the tyres of bicycles for children.

They also seized methamphetamine worth over RM1.8 million stashed in the bicycles tyres.

State Customs Department director Abdul Halim Ramli said a team from the department’s narcotics unit raided a courier company at the Raja Uda Business Centre here where they came across 10 parcels involving a sender from Penang to a location in Oceania.

He said initial checks on one of the parcels led investigators to a children’s bicycle frame along with tyres and rims.

“Further checks inside the tyres led to the discovery of transparent plastics containing crystallised substance, believed to be methamphetamine.


“The team then brought all the 10 parcels back to the narcotics unit for further checks. Upon checking, the team found 104 transparent crystallised substance, believed to be drugs, hidden inside the tyres in the 10 different parcels.

“The drugs weighed 18,028gm with a street value of RM1,802,800,” he told newsmen at the state Customs Department complex here.

According to Abdul Halim, the modus operandi of the syndicate is to hide the drugs inside other items and use the courier service as a medium of delivery.

Abdul Halim said the address used by the sender of the parcels pointed to a bicycle supplier.

“We are still probing if it is a genuine bicycle supplier.

“We are also checking if the sender had employed similar tactics in the past,” he added.

The case is probed under Section 39B of the Dangerous Drug Act 1952, which carries the mandatory death penalty upon conviction.

NST