M'sia politician questions why drug mules can evade M'sia customs checks & cross into S'pore

Days after convicted Malaysian drug trafficker Datchinamurthy Kataiah was executed in Singapore, Democratic Action Party (DAP) secretary for international affairs Kasthuri Patto questioned how mules were able to evade Malaysian authorities and cross into Singapore while carrying drugs.

Questioning the effectiveness of Malaysian border checkpoints, Kasthuri pointed out that many of these mules were arrested in Singapore at the checkpoint while travelling from Malaysia, as reported by Malaysia Kini.

She asked why these mules "were not apprehended by the Malaysian customs or the police force on Malaysian soil".

Increase resources to capture drug mules

“Did the Malaysian officers not know of the packages on these men or in their vehicles?” Kasthuri questioned.

She further asked if the Malaysian authorities knew about the smugglers, but still "allowed" them to cross the border so that they could be caught by Singapore law enforcement.

“What if others had attempted to smuggle out explosives, bombs, or worse, trafficking children from Malaysia into Singapore? Would their activity be flagged and alarm bells rung?” Kasthuri asked.

She called on the authorities to increase their resources so they can capture drug mules before they enter a neighbouring country.

Drug mules commonly victims of syndicates

According to Kasthuri, drug mules are commonly victims of syndicates who prey on the impoverished and marginalised communities.

She said that by detaining these mules, law enforcement can obtain essential information that could lead to drug traffickers and recruiters.

Kasthuri also criticised the use of capital punishment against low-level drug smugglers.

While one must be responsible for their actions, in many cases, "the powerful, the privileged, and those with connections in higher places often are not dealt with the same long arm of the law as the man or woman on the streets".

Kasthuri also opined that the death penalty is "not a deterrent", which is a view long refuted by Singapore's Ministry of Home Affairs, including by then-minister K Shanmugam in an interview with CNN.

"So we did a survey in the region among the places for which our drug traffickers largely come from. 86 per cent of the people in the survey said that the death penalty is more effective.

And two, as a result of the death penalty, they do not want to traffic drugs into Singapore. And what that means is a large number of people, large number of traffickers will be deterred from coming to Singapore."

Datchinamurthy Kataiah

On Sep. 25, 2025, convicted Malaysian drug trafficker Datchinamurthy Kataiah was executed in Singapore.

The death penalty was carried out after an earlier postponement.

He was arrested in 2011.

Top image via Canva