‘High’ highway lorry driver nabbed

Detained: Comm Ayob (right) questioning the lorry driver who tested positive for drugs.

JOHOR BARU: A 40-year-old man was found high on drugs behind the wheel of a one-tonne lorry on the North-South Expressway at the Skudai toll booth plaza.

The driver was flagged down by traffic police during a joint operation where he even showed the officers a packet of white substance believed to be drugs in his pouch.

Johor police chief Comm Datuk Ayob Khan Mydin Pitchay said the suspect, who was heading towards Pasir Gudang from Pagoh, seemed intoxicated.

“He was among 10 individuals subjected to a drug test and was the only one who failed as he tested positive for methamphetamine,” he said at a press conference in conjunction with the joint operation on commercial vehicles yesterday.

The suspect, he added, would be detained under Section 12(2) of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952 for further investigation.

On the joint operation with the Department of Environment and PLUS Malaysia, Comm Ayob said it was held to catch errand commercial vehicle drivers following a string of complaints.

“The complaints are dangerous driving, overloading, faulty brakes, not using signal indicators and using the emergency lane, among others,” he said.

Within an hour of the operation, 152 heavy vehicles were inspected and 93 summonses were issued.

Comm Ayob said a total of 150 such operations had been held consistently throughout Johor between January and September.

During the period, 232 lorries were inspected, with 208 of them impounded for overloading under the Land Public Transport Act 2010. A total of 341 summonses were issued.

“We received complaints that Johor police are too strict, but I would like to remind everyone that they should follow the rules as we don’t practise double standards,” he said.

Meanwhile, the state police traffic department is now equipped with the intelligence compound online payment (i-Cop) system.

“The i-Cop system will be placed in four locations in Johor: one on the North-South Expressway and three in several districts.

“Through the system, the police will be able to detect whether the vehicle has unpaid summonses or been fitted with a fake number plate and reported stolen,” he said.