Bag containing crystal methamphetamine. Source: News Limited

Maria Elvira Pinto Exposto, 51, a mother of four from Liverpool, Sydney, was remanded in custody at a Kuala Lumpur court today after being arrested at Kuala Lumpur airport while in transit from Shanghai to Melbourne.

Her lawyer Muhammad Shafee Abdullah told reporters outside the court that Mrs Exposto had told him she had been asked to carry the bag for a US army soldier. She had told him she believed the soldier, stationed in Afghanistan, wanted the documents taken to Melbourne for his retirement. She was told someone would collect the bag from her in Melbourne, Mr Abdullah said.

“There is a very strong chance that she is one of those naive and innocent mules that has been used by some unscrupulous people,” he said.

Malaysian customs chief Chik Omar Chik Lim earlier said Ms Exposto was arrested on December 7.

Anyone with at least 50 grams of the drug is considered a trafficker in Malaysia, which imposes a mandatory sentence of death by hanging upon conviction.

The woman is likely to be officially charged at her next court appearance on December 19.

Hundreds of people are on death row in Malaysia, many for drug-related offences, though few have been executed in recent years.

Two Australians were hanged in 1986 for heroin trafficking — the first Westerners to be executed in Malaysia — in a case that strained bilateral relations.

Last year, Dominic Bird, a truck driver from Perth, was acquitted on drug trafficking charges after he was allegedly caught with 167 grams of crystal meth.

His lawyers argued that a government chemist had make a mistake when analysing the substance found on Bird. He was freed and allowed to return home.

with AAP