Indian faces death penalty in Malaysia for drug smuggling

Kuala Lumpur, Sept.13 : A 21-year-old Indian national is facing a death sentence here for carrying drugs in the false bottom of his aluminium suitcase.

Alarm bells went off for customs officers at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Sepang after they emptied the bag and found a false bottom in which five kg of ketamine powder worth RM175,000 were hidden.

The New Strait Times said that Customs deputy director-general Mardina Alwi and her officers stopped the man after they noted that the suitcase he was carrying seemed heavy and that he was having difficulty managing it.

Mardina said that the suspect had arrived on an Air India flight from Mumbai at 10.15 p.m. and had waited for Customs officers to change shift at 11 p.m. before trying to walk through the check point on Wednesday.

"We believe members of the syndicate involved would have advised the suspect to wait for the officers to change shift and use this opportunity to escape attention. However, the plan backfired and he could now be facing the death sentence," Alwi was quoted, as saying.

She said there was a possibility that the man may not have even known what he was carrying as it was common for drug mules to be ignorant of what they had been paid to bring across.

She added that he had been remanded for seven days and that the case had been handed over to the police narcotics unit.

ANI