JOHOR BARU: Johor police busted a drug distribution syndicate and seized various types of drugs, worth RM5.33mil, in three raids in the city on Oct 10 and 11.
Police chief CP Datuk Ab Rahaman Arsad said the operation, which was the result of intelligence from the Johor Contingent's Narcotics Criminal Investigation Department, led to the arrest of four local men, aged between 35 and 54, and the seizure of 37.62kg of drugs.
He said that in the first raid at a condominium in Taman Delima, two men were detained and 10kg of Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) powder, two kg of ecstasy pills, 735g of ecstasy powder, 110g of syabu, 60g of Erimin 5 pills and various drug processing equipment were seized.
He said the second raid, conducted along the roadside in the Taman Sri Tebrau area, led to the arrest of a man with 1.44g of methamphetamine found in his possession.
The third raid on a condominium in Jalan Larkin led to the arrest of a man and the seizure of 15.31kg of MDMA powder, 3.46kg of ecstasy powder, 3.49kg of ecstasy pills, 1.72kg of ketamine, 430g of Erimin 5 pills, 260g of ganja as well as 38g of syabu.
At a press conference at the Johor contingent police headquarters here on Wednesday (Oct 15), Ab Rahaman said the total amount of drugs seized could have affected approximately 115,948 individuals if they had reached the local market.
He said the syndicate is believed to have been active since March and used the modus operandi of renting gated and heavily guarded apartments as storage locations before distributing the drugs to the local market, particularly nightclubs.
According to him, initial urine screening tests found all suspects positive for methamphetamine-type drugs. At the same time, checks revealed that two of them had prior records involving various drug and criminal offences.
All the suspects were remanded for seven days until Oct 17 to assist in the investigation under Section 39B of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952, which provides for the death penalty or life imprisonment and not less than 12 strokes of the rotan if convicted.
"Police also seized three sedan vehicles, as well as various jewellery worth RM123,200 under the Dangerous Drugs (Forfeiture of Property) Act 1988, bringing the total value of the seizure to RM5.45mil," he said. — Bernama
