The airport authorities have gone on "red alert" against drug trafficking following a surge this year in arrests and drug seizures, a senior customs official said.

Customs officers have begun this week screening all inbound passengers to Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) and an adjacent budget carrier terminal, said M Govinden, customs director-in-charge at KLIA.

He said 195 kilogrammes of drugs were seized and 33 people arrested at the two terminals so far this year, despite Malaysia's tough anti-drug laws which include a mandatory death sentence for traffickers.

Govinden added that drug seizures were at their highest level in a decade.

"The smuggling of drugs through airports is becoming very serious. Last week alone three arrests were made. More would have come in and slipped through the net (without the higher security)," he told AFP.

Amphetamines hidden in luggage

Smugglers have traditionally arrived from Africa and the Middle East but were expanding their originating points to include places like Bangladesh and the Philippines, he said.

A Malaysian man arriving from Manila on Tuesday - traditionally not a major source of trafficked drugs to Malaysia - was arrested with three kilogrammes of amphetamines hidden in his luggage, Govinden said.

He added that customs inspectors were now on "red alert" with all incoming flights considered "high risk". Govinden did not say how long the heightened security level would last.

NONE Malaysia has seen a string of recent drug-trafficking busts involving foreigners from countries in Africa, the Middle East, Europe and elsewhere in Asia.

In October, a Malaysian court sentenced a Japanese woman,  Mariko Takeuchi, to death for smuggling methamphetamines into the country in what officials said was the first such case involving a citizen of Japan.

- AFP