BABY LANDS IN CUSTOMS LOCK-UP

PUTRAJAYA, Dec 15:

A one-year-old baby is paying the price for her parents' folly by
landing behind bars.

The baby is at the Customs Department lock-up in Nilai with her
mother, who was detained last night with her husband for being in
possession of 3.4kg of ketamine worth over RM200,000.

Senior Customs officials decided to exercise their discretion to allow
her to be with her mother, as she was breast-feeding.

The department normally hands over infants to the next-of-kin of those
detained.

The couple, in their early 20s, have been remanded for a week to
facilitate investigations.

In the 10.30pm incident, the couple were waiting with the baby at the
departure lounge of the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) for
their flight to Macau when they were picked up by a Customs narcotics
team.

The dadah, in powder form, was found in four plastic bags in a special
compartment inside a bag.

Customs director-general Datuk Abdul Rahman Abdul Hamid said the
department would investigate and prosecute the case.

He said the case was being investigated under Section 39 (B) of the
Dangerous Drugs Act, which carries the mandatory death sentence on
conviction.

Since January, Customs officers have arrested 16 people, including the
couple, in their crackdown on dadah traffickers at checkpoints around
the country.