JOHOR BARU: Police have crippled an international drug syndicate with the arrest of 12 foreigners and two locals, as well as the seizure of 198.5kg drugs worth RM11.6mil during a series of raids here.
Bukit Aman Narcotics Crime Investigation Department (NCID) director Comm Datuk Khaw Kok Chin said among those arrested were the syndicate's mastermind, a 49-year-old foreign man.
“The Johor NCID conducted raids between 3.40pm and 8.30pm on May 29 at seven locations; condominium units and gated and guarded houses in Johor Baru, Seri Alam, and Iskandar Puteri.
“14 people were arrested. They were two local men, six foreign men, and six foreign women. All are aged between 22 and 52," said Comm Khaw
“All of these suspects are involved in processing and distributing various types of drugs, including ecstasy powder and pills, syabu, ketamin, Erimin-5 pills, and methylenedioxy-methamphetamine (MDMA), including raw chemical items to process drugs,” he said.
He said this during a press conference at Dewan Dato’ Onn at the Johor police headquarters, on Saturday (June 1).
Comm Khaw added that the group's modus operandi was to rent local condominium apartments and gated and guarded houses as a storage facility and as a ‘mini lab’ for them to process and distribute drugs internationally.
“We believed that the drugs were distributed by land, however, we are also not ruling out the possibility of them being distributed by sea.
“We have also confiscated close to RM1.2mil worth of personal belongings and items such as six vehicles, 11 watches, and 13 items of jewellery, cash worth RM204,069, and Singapore dollars worth SGD22,970 (RM79,905),” he said, adding that the group has been active since January this year.
The urine test revealed that three of them tested positive for drugs, while background checks revealed that five of the foreign suspects have prior cases in their record involving immigration, crimes, and drugs.
All of the suspects are currently under remand until June 5
The case is being investigated under Section 39B of the Dangerous Drugs Act for drug trafficking.
