GEORGE TOWN: Ganja buds now fetch up to RM35,000 per kg, compared to RM3,000 for regular ganja.
A syndicate said to be new to trafficking tried to cash in by operating between Malaysia and a neighbouring country.
They used Malaysia as a transit point for international distribution, as there was no local market due to its high price.
But luck ran out barely a month into the operation.
On Nov 4, police arrested eight people aged between 20 and 37, and seized 247.7kg of ganja buds worth RM8.67mil – the biggest drug bust in Penang this year.
Penang police chief Comm Datuk Azizee Ismail said police launched two raids in Bukit Mertajam that lasted 20 hours, starting from 10pm on Nov 4.
He said six people, including a British citizen of Pakistani origin, were picked up from a homestay during the first raid.
The second raid, also in the same area, led to the arrest of a local man in his 30s, believed to be the mastermind, and his wife – a Thai national – by the roadside.
Comm Azizee said police seized eight luggage bags containing 162 packages of ganja buds weighing 144.8kg, as well as another nine bags with 119 packages weighing 102.9kg during the operation.
“Investigations showed the group first rented a different homestay for five days, before moving to this homestay.
“They extended their stay for a second night at this homestay to store and rearrange the ganja buds.
“The total seizure can be consumed by 500,000 people.
“The syndicate also allegedly disguised the ganja buds with different flavouring marked on its packaging.
“The operation marks major success in our efforts to disrupt a cross-border syndicate using Penang as a transit point for distributing drugs internationally,” he said during a press conference at the state police headquarters here yesterday.
It is learnt that high-quality buds are cultivated for high concentrations of THC (tetrahydrocannabinol), which is the main psychoactive compound. Lower-grade ganja is typically much less potent, hence cheaper.
Comm Azizee said four of the suspects are related, adding that the group had been operating since mid-Oct.
“They would smuggle drugs via land from the East Coast from a neighbouring country.
“We believe those arrested are transporters.
“Some of them were beach boys, delivery riders and restaurant operators who were paid between RM9,000 and RM15,000 per trip to move the drugs across state borders,” he said.
He said two vehicles worth RM210,000 were also seized under the Dangerous Drugs (Forfeiture of Property) Act 1988.
“The total value of the drug and asset seizures amounts to RM8.88mil,” he said.
Comm Azizee said the suspects tested negative for drugs but four had prior criminal and drug records.
He said all of them had been remanded until today to assist investigations under Section 39B of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952, which carries the death penalty or life imprisonment and not fewer than 12 strokes of the cane if convicted.
