POLICE FREEZE GEORGIAN WOMAN'S ATTEMPT TO SMUGGLE SYABU INTO PENANG

GEORGE TOWN (Penang, Malaysia), Oct 26 (Bernama) -- The police froze a Georgian
woman's maiden attempt to smuggle five kilogrammes of syabu ('ice') inside photo
frames, into the northern island, via the Penang International Airport in Bayan
Lepas on Monday.

Now, the 37-year-old woman is dismayed she had been treading on thin ice over
her link to an international drug syndicate.

The authorities are framing charges against her under Section 39B of the
Dangerous Drugs Act 1952 which carries the mandatory death penalty upon
conviction.

About noon, the woman -- believed to be a drug mule -- brought the syabu worth
about RM1.3 million (US$419,896) to hand over to a local 'contact'.

However, she had hardly arrived at the airport when she found herself surrounded
by a team of narcotics policemen who found the syabu hidden in
specially-modified photo frames inside her travel suitcase.

State police chief Deputy Commissioner Ayub Yaakob said the police detained the
woman as soon as she arrived from the Kuala Lumpur International Airport(KLIA).

"A check (of the woman's luggage) led to the seizure of four photo frames inside
which 28 packets of syabu weighing 5.289kg were found hidden," he told reporters
here Tuesday.

He said the police were in the midst of determining the destination of the drug
whose street value was in the region of about RM1.3 million (US$419,896).

Ayub said initial police investigations had not ruled out the probability the
woman might have been working with an accomplice.
-- BERNAMA