'Normally, when we stop suspected smugglers or carry out routine checks, people panic or show some signs of nervousness if they are hiding something.
'But this man was so calm and composed that I became suspicious. He even smiled and calmly said he had nothing to declare when I asked him if he had any items to declare.'
'Too cool' traveller caught with $200k worth of Ice at airport
By Wendy Hui
Nearly 1kg of the drug methamphetamine or Ice was allegedly found in a secret compartment of the man's bag. -- PHOTO: ICA
THE man's serene demeanour as he walked towards the Customs green channel at the arrival hall of Changi Airport Terminal 2 on Thursday night aroused the suspicion of the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) officer on duty.
The 31-year-old Malaysian was stopped, and his luggage screened.
The officer's hunch was right: Close to 1kg of a crystallised substance - allegedly methamphetamine, also known as Ice, with a minimum street value of $200,000 - was found in a transparent plastic bag in a secret compartment of the passenger's trolley bag.
The ICA officer described the man - who was wearing a formal business suit and on a social visit pass - as being 'too calm'.
'Normally, when we stop suspected smugglers or carry out routine checks, people panic or show some signs of nervousness if they are hiding something.
'But this man was so calm and composed that I became suspicious. He even smiled and calmly said he had nothing to declare when I asked him if he had any items to declare.'
The man's trolley luggage had allegedly been modified with a concealed compartment near the handle mechanism. In an X-ray scan of the trolley luggage, ICA officers found the compartment secured with 10 screws.
They alerted the Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB). Officers from the ICA and the CNB unscrewed the concealed compartment and found the alleged drugs.
Methamphetamine abusers formed 16 per cent of all drug abusers arrested from January to June this year, second only to heroin abusers, who made up 57 per cent of all those arrested.
According to a report released by the CNB earlier this month, 1.47kg of methamphetamine was seized in the first half of this year, 50 per cent more than in the same period last year. ST22/8/09
