SHAH ALAM, Malaysia (Kyodo) A Malaysian customs officer has testified in court that a special security dragnet launched at Kuala Lumpur International Airport last October led to the arrest of a Japanese woman on charges of drug-trafficking, an offense punishable by death.
"That day we had a special operation where all passengers' baggage had to go through the scanning machine," Senior Customs Officer Elangovan Rethnesamy told the Shah Alam High Court on Tuesday, the second day of the trial of Mariko Takeuchi.
Takeuchi, 36, who was arrested on arrival at Kuala Lumpur Airport after a flight from Dubai, was charged with trafficking 3.5 kg of methamphetamine, an offense that carries a mandatory death sentence in Malaysia.