Two men have been arrested following a at the Johor Bahru checkpoint. 

In a statement on Wednesday (Feb 25), the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) said that a Malaysia-registered car was successfully intercepted after it attempted to evade arrival clearance at Tuas Checkpoint on Feb 22. 

At about 2.44pm that day, ICA officers detected the vehicle driving towards the Arrival Motorcycle Zone and making an unauthorised U-turn at the entrance. 

"The vehicle then drove against the flow of arriving traffic towards Malaysia, posing a danger to other road users," said ICA. 

"As the vehicle turned back towards Malaysia before it could be intercepted, ICA promptly alerted the Malaysian authorities at the Kompleks Sultan Abu Bakar (KSAB) to keep a lookout for the vehicle."

Lockdown activated

The same vehicle later re-entered Tuas Checkpoint at about 3pm and a lockdown was immediately activated after an officer deployed at the entrance towards Malaysia spotted the car. 

The vehicle dashed through one of the lanes and damaged a drop-arm barrier at the Arrival Cargo Zone before being brought to a stop. 

No injuries were reported. 

A 40-year-old Malaysian driver and 53-year-old Malaysian passenger were subsequently arrested. 

A total of about 0.097kg of heroin, 0.069kg of Ice, three Erimin-5 tablets, 27 tablets believed to contain controlled drugs and various drug paraphernalia were found on the driver and in a pouch under the front passenger seat, said ICA. 

It added that the driver was also not in possession of a valid travel document at the time. 

Both men were subsequently handed over to the Central Narcotics Bureau and investigations into the drug-related offences are ongoing.

The driver is also being investigated by the ICA for various immigration offences, and by the Traffic Police for rash driving and other driving offences.