Leaf drug 'a potent new scourge'

ON March 8, a special squad of the narcotics division of the Royal Malaysian Customs Department seized qat plants valued at RM3,000 at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport's free zone cargo area.

The plant was declared upon entry but when chemical tests were conducted, it was found they contained cathinone, an amphetamine-like stimulant.

The department's narcotics division deputy director Mohd Subri Awang said as cathinone was listed in the First Schedule Part III of Dangerous Drugs Act 1952, this made the qat plant illegal here.

"The qat was brought in by Yemeni citizens, for their own consumption," said Subri.

It may be a one-off seizure but the department officials are not taking the matter lightly. Subri said they were alerted about the plant after reading foreign news reports. This led to the department keeping an eye on cargo from the Middle East and East Africa.

The qat leaves are consumed by foreign students, especially Middle Easterns here.

The police, too, are not taking the matter lightly.

Bukit Aman Narcotics Department deputy director Datuk Othman Harun said while there had been no record on the entry of the drugs into the country so far, "we will constantly monitor our borders and will never let our guard down in battling the drug menace".

City police narcotics chief Assistant Commissioner Kang Chez Chiang echoed Othman's statement but expressed worry over certain parties abusing the drugs, particularly mephedrone.

"I have never heard about these two drugs but I believe it is just a matter of time before syndicates get a hold of them and start 'experimenting' with them.

"Seven or eight years ago, nobody imagined that ketamine, which was used as horse tranquilliser, would be abused by drug users. But statistically, it is now one of the top drugs abused by party-goers."

He added that since the emergence of synthetic drugs in the market several years ago, there had been many new types invented by syndicates.

"Syndicates keep thinking of new ways to 'innovate' and create new drugs which are more potent and perhaps, more deadly."

He said the problem with new drugs is that nobody knows how powerful they are and their dangers.

"Some people will just pop in whatever to get high, without thinking about the consequences."

He cited the example of Ecstasy pills, the dosage of which differed from one person to the other.

Kang said police would liaise with their counterparts in the countries where the new drugs are known to originate from, to stop the drugs from penetrating into the local market.

The police, however, cannot stop the purchase of mephedrone over the Internet.