According to airport authorities, 28-year-old Sharina Binti Mohdzaini landed at the airport at about 9pm on Monday on a flight from Brazil transiting in Dubai.

After checking her luggage, customs officers used an electric drill to take apart the cabin-size case and found two bags of white powder carefully wrapped in nylon and hidden in the lining of her bag.

A quick test confirmed the powder was cocaine.

Mohdzaini admitted that she was asked by her boyfriend to transport the drugs from Brazil to Viet Nam for US$1,200.

Last month, police also arrested another Malaysian woman who tried to smuggle 4.1kg of cocaine hidden in food cans into Viet Nam.

Viet Nam is one of the strictest countries in the world regarding drug smuggling. Anyone found to illegally transporting or selling more than 100g of cocaine or heroin can face a life sentence or even the death penalty. — VNS