KOTA KINABALU: Sabah made its biggest drug bust in history with the seizure of over three tonnes of drugs and the arrest of eight suspects in several raids from January.
Inspector-General of Police Datuk Seri Mohd Khalid Ismail, in this bust dubbed Ops Coleoptera, the syndicate shipped cargo containers declared as machinery to be sent to Sabah via sea routes from Port Klang as the first transit point.
He said in the first raid on Jan 20, police from the narcotics investigation department raided a house in Taman Landmark Penampang, where two local men were nabbed.
“From here, we seized drugs believed to be meth weighing at 548kg and ecstasy pills weighing around 31kg,” he said during a press conference after receiving two units of four-wheel-drive vehicles from the state government here, Friday (Feb 13).
In a subsequent raid the same day, a local man and a foreign woman were arrested after they were found with over 1.6kg of meth, he said, adding that another local woman acting as the lookout was also arrested, said Khalid.
On Jan 21 at Port Klang, authorities seized over 255kg of meth that is believed to be meant for transportation to Sabah. Two local men were nabbed from Port Klang.
A fourth, fifth, and sixth raid were also carried out in other areas where over 1.2kg of meth, 357kg of meth, 59 ecstasy pills, 51kg of ketamine, 4kg of cocaine vape liquid, and 2.6kg of Eremin pills.
Later, inspections on a container truck around the city led to further discovery of 679kg of meth and 52kg of ketamine, while another local male suspect was apprehended thereafter.
Khalid said they believe all the suspects belong to the same syndicate operating in Sabah, Klang and neighbouring countries.
The total seizure value, including drugs and properties such as vehicles, jewellery, and cash, amounted to over RM174mil, with the drugs believed to be able to cater to more than 16 million addicts per single use.
From the arrested suspects, five have been charged, two have been offered witness bond and the other is still under investigation.
In an unrelated case, seven people were nabbed while drugs of various kinds weighing over 111kg of syabu, 419kg of ecstasy powder, 6.7kg of ecstasy pills, 71kg of ketamine and 25kg of eramin were seized.
Khalid said these drugs were valued at over RM69.6mil and can feed up to 339,000 drug addicts for one dose.
Items such as vehicles, handphones, and cash were also confiscated.
Asked if both cases were connected, he said this was still under investigation while matters of whether there are other suspects involved and more seizures expected were being probed as well.
Khalid said police would boost their patrols and intensify raids at hotspots and transit points to curb the smuggling of drugs and other cross-border crimes.
“Anyone who wishes to share information of drug related activities can contact the Narcotics hotline at 012-2087222,” he said, thanking other agencies, including the Customs Department, for their cooperation in these raids.
