Malaysian police arrest 26 at New Year 'sex party'

Malaysian police arrested a female newsreader, an actress and 24 other revellers at a New Year's Eve "sex and drugs" party at a Kuala Lumpur hotel, reports said Friday.

The two high-profile women and seven others tested positive for drugs, police said, according to The New Straits Times, which reported that condoms, beer cans and half-eaten pizza were found strewn around the hotel room.

"When police arrived, many of the party goers were already high on drugs," The Star newspaper quoted an unnamed source as saying, adding that various illegal substances, including cocaine, ketamine and amphetamines were seized.

It said that the party was organised through the social networking website Friendster.

Police acting on a tip-off raided the gathering at a downtown Kuala Lumpur hotel in the early hours of New Year's Day.

The raid came after rumours that a New Year's Eve sex party was being planned on a remote beach in southern Malaysia.

Tourism Minister Azalina Othman condemned the beach party as "against our culture and religion" and potentially damaging to the reputation of majority-Muslim Malaysia.

Police warned that the "no-underwear" event for the under-40s, advertised through a website that asked for 250 ringgit (72 dollars) as an entrance fee, could be a money-making scam.

Party organisers had reportedly said that male guests were banned from wearing briefs to the event, while women were permitted to wear only G-string underwear which had to be removed after midnight.