KUALA LUMPUR: The increasing level of international cooperation among law enforcement agencies has tightened the net around the global illegal drug trade but this has led cartels to crank up production.

"If we catch one drug mule on a plane, the next time they will send a whole plane load of drug mules. That actually happened in London where everyone on a flight from Jamaica was carrying drugs," said Bukit Aman Narcotics Crime Investigation Department (NCID) deputy director Deputy Comm Datuk Kang Chez Chiang (pic).

DCP Kang said the global drug trade network is vast, with heroin and cannabis coming from the golden triangle in northern Myanmar, working its way through South-East Asia before going to other parts of the world.

He added in an interview on Thursday (March 29) that ecstasy is coming in to the region from Europe, while ketamine is coming in from India and two drugs - methamphetamines and Eramin 5 - are coming in from China and Taiwan.

"Cheaper air travel and improved transportation, communication and logistics also make smuggling drugs easier and more lucrative. Syndicates even fly their chemists to other countries to set up drug labs for localised production," said DCP Kang.

He added that the Malaysian police and their counterparts are in constant communication to improve the fight against drug syndicates and have been working to build bonds since 1996.

"We wanted to forge closer working ties with our counterparts in this region and around the world as the syndicates and cartels began setting up international networks fuelled by globalisation," said DCP Kang.

He added that the hard work has paid off as law enforcement agencies are now working in tandem with the Royal Malaysia Police.

DCP Kang said that the cooperation has paid off as the police have seized 11 tonnes of drugs worth around RM600mil since 2010 based on intelligence provided by their counterparts overseas.

He said that the Malaysian police had been working actively with the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) from the United States, the Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) of Singapore and the National Narcotics Control Commission (NNCC) from China since 2010.

"In total we have conducted 121 operations and arrested 572 men and 82 women in the same period due to this cooperation," he said.