Police in northern Malaysia arrested two Iranian women for allegedly smuggling illegal drugs worth more than 1.55 million ringgit (500,000 dollars), officials said Tuesday.
Police at Penang state's international airport discovered 6.2 kilograms of methamphetamine in two suitcases, a state police spokesman said.
The suspects, aged 21 and 34, had landed at the airport twice last month allegedly to study security measures at the airport, police chief Ayub Yaakob said.
He said the suspects would be charged for drug trafficking, which carries the mandatory death sentence, dpa reported.
Ayub was quoted by the Star newspaper as saying police would be tightening airport security to prevent drug pushers from using the state as a transit point for trafficking.
Malaysian police detained 138 Iranians last year on suspicion of drug trafficking, from only 16 the year before.
Authorities said the increase in number of Iranian traffickers was due to the relatively higher prices for the drugs in Malaysia.