JOHOR BARU: More than five tonnes of drugs worth RM35.83mil were seized throughout 2023, says Johor police chief Comm Datuk Kamarul Zaman Mamat.
He said the Johor Narcotic Investigation Department arrested a total of 16,598 people for various drug offences between January and December of last year.
“In terms of the number of arrests, the department’s performance was the third best in the country.
“The department also arrested 615 drug addicts under Section 39C of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952 for committing repeated offences. For this, the department’s performance was also the third best in the country.
“A total of 127 people were also arrested under the Special Prevention Measures (LLPK) where 124 of them (97.63%) were given detention or restriction orders. This is the best performance among all contingents nationwide,” he said in a statement on Tuesday (Jan 2) night.
Comm Kamarul added that the department had also crippled 16 drug syndicates, which involved 98 arrests and the seizure of RM25.07mil worth of drugs and RM7.08mil worth of assets.
“Between January and December last year, an operation codenamed Ops Tapis Khas was also conducted statewide to focus on drug hot spots such as fishermen’s jetties, people's housing programme (PPR) flats and Felda areas.
“A total of 1,478 people were arrested during the operation, including 175 suspects on the wanted list,” he said.
He noted that the department also managed to charge 5,728 cases in court and solve 12,947 cases last year.
“We hope that the public will continue to channel information on any drug activities around them. They can reach out to the department through this hotline at 012-2087222,” he said, adding that some 322.13kg and 1,562.60 litres of drugs worth RM5.43mil were also disposed of last year.
