TELUK INTAN, Jan 5 — There has been an increase in the number of students arrested for drug-related offences last year.

A total of  987 students, including those in primary schools, were nabbed for various drug crimes. 

In 2015, there were 821 cases involving students from primary schools to higher learning institutions.

While federal police remained tight-lipped over the type of offences, Bukit Aman Narcotics Criminal Investigation Department director Datuk Seri Mohd Mokhtar Mohd Shariff revealed 539 of the students nabbed last year were from higher learning institutions and the rest from primary and seconday schools.

"We have also seen a 173 per cent increase in the number of students who were drug traffickers, up from 41 in 2015 to 112 last year,” he said.

"Students should be focusing on their studies and not be involved in drugs.” 

Mokhtar said the total number of drug-related cases nationwide had also gone up by eight per cent over the past two years.

Police arrested 192,663 Malaysians and 7,923 foreigners — 479 of them for trafficking — in 2015. 

They also seized 52,284kg of drugs in 2016, an increase of 56 per cent over 2015’s haul of 33,460kg.

However, the value of the drugs seized dropped 21 per cent, from RM238.87 million in 2015 to RM189.85 million last year. 

"The market value of the drugs, especially methampetamine, dropped last year, causing the value of the seized drugs to decrease,” he said.

Mokhtar  stressed the country was not a major production hub for drugs, adding that they were mostly brought in by land, sea, air as well as online.

He refuted suggestions this was because of poor security at the nation’s borders. 

"If border control is weak, we wouldn’t have seized RM200 million worth of drugs. But these traffickers are always thinking of ways to outsmart the authorities,” he said.

"There are millions of travellers and cargo coming in every month. What is important is that we are in control.”

Asked about the rise in drug cases, he said: "There has been an increase but we are not losing the war.

"Drugs are a national enemy. We will not have any sympathy in our fight to bring traffickers to justice.”