KUALA LUMPUR - MALAYSIAN police said on Wednesday they had arrested 13 people for running an international narcotics syndicate that smuggled heroin from Pakistan.

Mr Othman Harun, deputy director of the federal narcotics department, said those detained on Monday included two women, from Singapore and the Philippines, as well as seven African men, one Pakistani and three Malaysians.

The two women were arrested at the Low Cost Carrier Terminal, a satellite of Kuala Lumpur International Airport, while the others were arrested in separate raids.

'We believe drugs from Pakistan were smuggled into this country,' Mr Harun said, adding that the narcotics were to be distributed to other countries from Malaysia.

'The Singaporean lady was used as a drug mule, and the Africans were responsible for recruiting the drug mules,' he told AFP.

When she was arrested, the Singaporean woman was found with 560 grams of heroin that she was allegedly intending to take to China, The Star daily reported.

Mr Othman said that the 13 had not yet been charged in court. -- AFP