He said seven cases of this nature had been reported in the state so far this year.

“Although not serious yet, we must not treat this development lightly. We must nip it in the bud.

“I would like to appeal to parents to monitor the activities of their children to avoid them becoming victims,” he said at a press conference here today.

Earlier he witnessed Sarawak Police Narcotics Department chief ACP Lukas Aket handing over his duty to his successor DSP Sekam Anoi at the state police headquarters here.

Lukas is on promotional transfer to Johor after serving the department for two years and six months while Sekam will be the acting chief.

Mazlan said the modus operandi was for the traffickers to befriend and develop a relationship with these teenagers through the social media before asking them to collect courier service parcels containing the drug.

Meanwhile Lukas said the state police had been doing very well in combating and bringing under control the drug menace in the state.

“So far this year we made 5,582 arrests for various drug related offences and seized RM2.7 million worth of properties like houses, vehicles and cash.

“Most of the arrests were made in Kuching, Sibu, Miri and Bintulu but we have also done a lot of operations in a number of smaller rural towns,” he said.