KUALA LUMPUR: The police are facing mounting challenges in their battle against drug trafficking as syndicates employ increasingly innovative methods to evade the law.
Of late, there have been several raids involving large drug seizures by the police, of drugs hidden in cars which were used as storage, parked on the side of the road.
Bukit Aman Narcotics Criminal Investigation Department (NCID) director Datuk Seri Mohd Kamarudin Md Din, acknowledged this emerging trend and the complications it poses for investigators.
The tactic, he said, is designed to prevent direct interactions between the syndicate, transporters, and drug buyers
“If these drug buyers and transporters are arrested, they cannot provide information about the syndicate in detail as they do not know each other because there was no face-to-face meeting,” he told Bernama.
Mohd Kamarudin said it has made investigations complicated and challenging due to the element of drug ownership, which is difficult to prove.
He said in most cases, the owner of the vehicle is someone else, whether it is a rented or an abandoned car, and does not belong to the individual arrested.
The speed of digital technology also enables online drug transactions without physical contact as the drugs are delivered using a courier service.
Mohd Kamarudin said there are also several Websites (dark web), which have been identified as carrying out drug buying and selling activities openly online.
“Police will continue to carry out intelligence from time to time, to ensure that distribution activities through the dark web do not develop more widely,” he said.
Meanwhile, Mohd Kamarudin said the NCID has successfully seized 19,147.56kg of various types of drugs and 13,913.44 litres of various types of liquid drugs for the 10 months of this year.
Also seized were 64,870.73kg of ketum leaves and 49,013.56 litres of ketum water. The total value of the seizures was RM452.4mil.
Mohd Kamarudin said that NCID always tries to find a solution to ensure that criminals are punished according to the existing laws.
