Sydney mum will be sentenced to death if found guilty of drug smuggling

Maria Elvira Pinto Exposto, centre, escorted by the police in Sepang, Malaysia. Photo / AAP file

A Sydney mother will be executed if convicted of smuggling crystal methamphetamine into Malaysia.

Maria Elvira Pinto Exposto was found with more than a kilogram of methamphetamine in her bag after arriving in Kuala Lumpur on a flight from China in 2014.

With her trial expected to finish today, Exposto will be sentenced to death if found guilty due to the country's tough drug laws.

Her lawyers have previously said the Australian mum fell victim to an internet romance scam and she believed she was in Shanghai to lodge documents for her online boyfriend's retirement from service in the US Army.

She claimed she was handed the black backpack at the last minute and thought there were only clothes inside.

Customs officials noticed an item inside that appeared "green" during scans of Exposto's belongings at Kuala Lumpur airport.

Upon closer inspection, they found odd pink and brown stitching at the back of the backpack.

When they opened the stitching, grey packages were inside, customs official Mohd Noor Nashariq told the Shah Alam High Court last year.

- AAP