Major haul: Comm Kamarul Zaman (second from right) pointing to the seized ganja during a press conference in Johor Baru.
JOHOR BARU: The arrest of two teenage boys led police to a drug-trafficking syndicate headed by a 47-year-old man and ganja worth over RM500,000.
Johor police chief Comm Datuk Kamarul Zaman Mamat said police initially arrested the two suspects in Taman Pelangi for having 13.1g of ketamine, 30 Ecstasy pills and RM5,000 on Thursday at 10pm.
“Their arrest led police to a raid on an apartment near the city centre where we arrested four more teenagers, including two girls.
‘’Checks in the premises saw the seizure of two slabs of ganja. One of the suspects is the son of the syndicate leader,” he said yesterday.
Comm Kamarul Zaman said police then arrested another suspect during raids on two houses in two residential areas in Tiram between 2.45am and 3pm on Friday.
“The syndicate has been renting the two houses as a store to keep the drugs,” he said, adding that 216kg of ganja worth more than RM540,000 were seized from the two premises.
In total, police arrested seven suspects between the ages of 17 and 47, including the father and son.
“Six of them tested positive for tetrahydrocannabinol and methamphetamine while one of them has prior record for drugs,” he said, adding that the teenagers were dropouts.
Police also seized two cars and a motorcycle from the suspects, bringing the total value of the seizure to RM578,000.
“The drugs seized from the syndicate, which has been active since August this year, could cater to 216,199 addicts,” said Comm Kamarul Zaman.
