Tighter checks as syndicates use livestock dung to smuggle in drugs

New Straits Times

a day ago

KOTA BARU: Kelantan police have confirmed the existence of drug syndicates whose members hid their narcotics beneath animal waste in livestock enclosures.
State police chief Datuk Mohd Yusoff Mamat said police received intelligence on the tactic several months ago and believe local traffickers may have copied the method from their counterparts across the border.
"This is not new to us. I had highlighted this several months ago that drugs were being smuggled in using cattle, goats and other livestock," he said here today.
Yusoff added that police would now intensify checks on those bringing in livestock, both through legal means and smuggling.
"We are monitoring those suspected of smuggling drugs into the state and using animal waste to conceal the drugs. These individuals are already on our radar," he said.
It was reported today that the scent of goat dung is proving more than just unpleasant — it's being used by drug traffickers to evade detection by the authorities at the Malaysia-Thailand border.
Thai authorities say Kelantan-based syndicates are now mimicking a long-used tactic by regional smugglers: burying narcotics under piles of animal waste to conceal the scent.
"Authorities in the neighbouring country have been aware of this tactic for years and have successfully foiled several attempts," said a source.