Malaysian caught with drugs strapped under corset at Indonesian airport

A 22-year-old Malaysian man has been detained by Indonesian authorities after drugs were found strapped to his body beneath a black corset upon his arrival at Juanda Airport from Kuala Lumpur.

Juanda Naval Air Base commander Colonel Henoch Nasarius Virzawan said the seizure comprised 990g of syabu and 1,089 ecstasy pills wrapped in eight packages.

He said customs officers received information on the morning of July 29 about a passenger arriving from Kuala Lumpur who was suspected of carrying the illegal substances.

An X-ray scan of the suspect's luggage turned up nothing suspicious, prompting officers to conduct a body search which uncovered the drugs strapped to the man's torso under the corset.

"This seizure is estimated to have saved around 6,584 people from falling victim to drug abuse," he said in a recording of a press conference shared with the media on Tuesday.

The case comes just days after Indonesian authorities detained a 39-year-old Malaysian pilot in a separate case involving the seizure of about 25kg of ecstasy pills in his luggage after he arrived from Kuala Lumpur at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Jakarta.

Henoch said the arrest was the result of close coordination between naval security control, customs, immigration, airport security and other agencies at Juanda Airport.

He said the Indonesian Navy would continue to strengthen cooperation with airport authorities to tighten security controls and curb drug smuggling through air routes.