The Malaysian Insight

MALAYSIA’s strategic position in the Southeast Asian region, near the so-called “Golden Triangle”, is being exploited by international syndicates for drug trafficking, deputy Inspector-General of Police Razarudin Husain said.

Razarudin, who used to head the Bukit Aman Narcotics Department, said Malaysia’s location makes the country suitable as a transit point for drug distribution.

Former Johor police chief Ayob Khan Mydin Pitchay took over as Bukit Aman Narcotics Crime Investigation Department (NCID) director on Monday.

Razarudin told The Malaysian Insight the deep waters of the South China Sea and the slow currents in the Straits of Malacca and its close proximity to the Golden Triangle are factors driving cross-border criminal activities to spread.

According to the United Nations, the Golden Triangle, the region where Thailand’s Chiang Rai province meets Myanmar and Laos, has a long history of drug production.

The name Golden Triangle, coined by the United States Central intelligence Agency (CIA), is commonly used more broadly to refer to an area of approximately 950,000sq km that overlaps the mountains of the three adjacent countries.

It has been one of the largest opium-producing areas of the world since the 1950s. Most of the world’s heroin came from the Golden Triangle until the early 21st century when Afghanistan became the world’s largest producer.

The majority of the region’s opium is now produced in Myanmar and, to a lesser extent, Laos.

“Our country is also close to several drug producing countries such as Myanmar, Laos and Thailand, which make up the Golden Triangle.

“Drugs are usually smuggled from the Golden Triangle, especially from Shan province in Myanmar, which is one of the largest producers of syabu for the world market before entering Malaysia by sea or land,” Razarudin said.

He said smugglers use both the sea and land routes that begin from the Golden Triangle and end in all corners of Malaysia.

“First, if using the sea route, the journey will start from Satun province, Thailand to Langkawi Island, Kedah, and then it goes across Kendi Island and Teluk Kumbar before entering Sungai Jawi or Kuala Juru, Penang.

“The majority of drug supplies to Sabah and Sarawak will enter by sea and air from Peninsular Malaysia,” he said.

Easy route

Razarudin said the second route is by land starting from Narathiwat province, Thailand via Tak Bai or Golok using Sungai Golok to Tumpat and Rantau Panjang.

“This land route is easy as Malaysia and Thailand are only separated by Sungai Golok, which is 99km long and 15m wide, and its river is relatively shallow. Because of that, there are 92 illegal sites along Sungai Golok in Kelantan.

“The fact that the river is narrow and has a width of only a few meters allows the syndicate to smuggle drugs into Malaysia easily,” he said.

From the beginning of the year to November 2021, Malaysian police seized more than 27,050kg of various types of drugs, and, of that total, 7,919kg was syabu.

The seizure of ephedrine, a chemical that is used to produce syabu, was 8,734kg, followed by 3,232kg of cannabis, heroin (2,140kg), erimin 5 (2,028kg), captagon pills (650kg), ketamine (465kg), yaba pills (343kg), ecstasy (259kg and caffein (283kg). – January 5, 2022.