PETALING JAYA: Five Malaysians were arrested at Haneda Airport in Tokyo on Saturday after allegedly attempting to smuggle about 5kg of cocaine worth 120 million yen (RM3.1 million) concealed beneath shoe insoles.
The group is believed to have brought the drugs from KLIA.
Each suspect concealed about 1kg of cocaine, with 500g hidden beneath the insole of each shoe, reported Fuji News Network.
The smuggling attempt was uncovered when customs officers became suspicious of one of the suspects.
An initial inspection found cocaine beneath the insoles of two suspects, before customs officers identified three other individuals believed to have been travelling with them.
One of the five suspects claimed he was offered RM8,000 through the Telegram messaging app to transport drugs overseas.
According to Japanese news outlet TBS News, the suspect claimed he was given a pair of shoes to conceal the drugs.
Tokyo metropolitan police are investigating the possibility that the group was recruited by a Malaysia-based criminal syndicate.
Last month, five Malaysians were detained at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Jakarta for allegedly smuggling 5kg of the synthetic drug etomidate concealed in their shoes.
The five were stopped by Indonesian authorities after arriving from Kuala Lumpur on an AirAsia flight, reported Buletin TV.
In July, a Malaysian pilot was arrested at the same airport for allegedly smuggling more than 70,000 ecstasy pills weighing 25kg into Indonesia.