Kuala Lumpur  - Malaysian anti-narcotics police have detained an Indonesian woman they said was caught with bars of heroin shaped to look like soap, a newspaper reported Wednesday.

The 31-year-old suspect arrived Saturday at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport from Bangalore, India, Nordin Hassan Kadir, narcotics chief in the central state of Selangor, told the Star newspaper.

"Officers noticed that the woman was acting suspiciously when she was about to pick up her bag," he was quoted as saying.

When a scan of her bag revealed no suspicious items, officers searched it and found what looked to be four bars of soap.

Nordin said officers discovered that three of the bars were actually solid heroin, adding that the woman has been remanded.

The value of the drug seizure was estimated at 160,000 ringgit (43,243 dollars), the report said.

Malaysia's tough drug laws prescribe a mandatory death sentence for those found guilty of trafficking in most types of drugs. (dpa)