SUNGAI BULOH: A ketum syndicate operating under the guise of a landscape company has been busted with the seizure of 550,000ml of ketum juice and the arrest of four men.
The juice was to be bottled and sold for RM5 or RM10 each.
“We believe it is one of the largest ketum operations that have been raided so far,” said Selangor police chief Comm Datuk Hussein Omar Khan.
A police team raided two houses in Kampung Melayu Sungai Buloh on Oct 3.
Two Malaysians and two foreigners, aged between 21 and 42, were detained in the raids.
“One of those detained was the ringleader, who is also the owner of the landscape company,” Comm Hussein told a press conference at the district police headquarters here yesterday.
He said that about 1,100 bottles of ketum juice, or 550,000ml worth, were seized along with 41 cartons of smuggled cigarettes.
“Each bottle was sold for RM5 during the day and RM10 at night.”
He added that the ketum processing and distribution syndicate is believed to have been running since 2021.
“The syndicate operated from 7.30am until 2am daily.
“It would communicate with buyers via WhatsApp,” said Comm Hussein.
Investigations showed that the syndicate purchased 50kg of ketum leaves every month from Perak for its operations.
“That amount can produce up to 4,000 bottles,” he said.
Comm Hussein said the syndicate would produce 400 to 500 bottles in the span of four days before producing the next batch.
“We believe they earned up to RM20,000 a month.”
Most of the customers would go to the houses to purchase the ketum juice, he added.
“However, we are not ruling out the possibility that they might have transporters too,” he said.
The 1,100 bottles of ketum juice were worth RM17,500, he said.
He said the four suspects, who tested negative for drugs, had been remanded for seven days.
