Johor cops seize drugs worth more than RM1mil in series of raids

JOHOR BARU: Some RM1.04mil worth of drugs were seized in a special operation involving seven raids around Johor Baru and Iskandar Puteri here.

Johor police chief Comm Datuk Ayob Khan Mydin Pitchay (pic) said that 10 suspects, including two women, who are between the ages of 20 and 34 years old, were also arrested during the raids on Wednesday (Sept 15).

"We arrested a 30-year-old man and seized some drugs and equipment used to process it during the first raid.

"Following the first arrest, we were able to conduct six more raids where nine more suspects were arrested," he said, adding that all suspects are locals.

He said this in a press conference at the Johor police headquarters here on Friday (Sept 17).

Comm Ayob noted that the drugs seized, which included 25.2kg heroin and 14kg of ecstacy powder, could feed the addiction of 172,666 people.

"The syndicate rented a house in a gated-and-guarded area to store and process the drugs.

"They have been active for about a month and were at the initial stages of operating.

"However, we were able to uncover the drug lab and bust them before they could start processing and selling the drugs," he said.

He noted that apart from the drugs, four cars, three gold items and equipment used to process the drugs were also seized, bringing the total value of seized items to RM1.23mil.

"One of the suspects has been remanded for seven days, starting from Thursday (Sept 16) to assist in investigations under Section 39B of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952.

"Meanwhile, nine other suspects will have action taken against them under the Dangerous Drugs Act (Special Preventive Measures) 1985," he said.