BATU PAHAT, Feb 22 ― The Batu Pahat maritime zone Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) foiled a bid by an individual to smuggle 30kg of syabu valued at RM4.2 million out of the country, making it the largest seizure by the agency so far.

The MMEA team also seized a fibre boat with a 115-horsepower engine, a Nissan Sentra car and also several mobile phones from the man in his 30s, during the raid at the Parit Jawa river estuary here at 7.40pm yesterday.

Johor MMEA director First Admiral (Maritime) Aminuddin Abdul Rashid said the arrest and seizure were the result of a joint effort between the agency’s Batu Pahat maritime zone and its headquarters’ intelligence division that monitored the situation for the past three months.

"During the raid, the MMEA team found the illicit drugs, believed to be the syabu (crystal methamphetamine), that is estimated to weight at 30kg and has a market value of RM4.2 million.

"MMEA personnel found the drugs hidden inside Chinese tea packages and were placed in two blue bins,” said Aminuddin at the Batu Pahat MMEA maritime base here today.

Checks by Malay Mail revealed that the drugs were likely destined for Indonesia, where the market price for synthetic drugs for recreational use could fetch up to three times higher.

It is understood that seas are the preferred routes used to smuggle out synthetic drugs to Indonesia, due to our porous and vast maritime borders.

Aminuddin said initial investigations revealed that the suspect was believed to have tried to smuggle the drugs out of our country's borders for sale.

"The case has been submitted to the agency’s Batu Pahat maritime zone investigation unit for investigation under the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952,” he said.

The suspect faces the death penalty if convicted for possession of the drugs.

This latest success follows MMEA’s recent raid in Tanjung Rhu off Sepang in Selangor on January 9, where the agency foiled a bid by two fishermen to smuggle 23kg of syabu valued at RM3.4 million out of the country.