KANGAR: Police arrested five individuals, including a married couple, and seized 510kg of methamphetamine worth an estimated RM25.5mil in three separate raids in Wang Kelian, Kaki Bukit near Padang Besar last week.
Bukit Aman Narcotics Criminal Investigation Department director Datuk Hussein Omar Khan said the suspects - four men and one woman aged between 23 and 37 - are believed to be members of a drug trafficking syndicate that has been active for several years.
Hussein said police arrested the married couple and a male suspect from two cars they were travelling in along the main road in Wang Kelian during the first raid on March 24.
"Further inspection of the car driven by one of the male suspects led police to seize 20 sacks containing 500 plastic packets filled with substances suspected to be methamphetamine,” he said at a press conference at the Perlis police contingent headquarters here Monday (March 30).
He said police were forced to fire several shots at one of the vehicles as the driver’s actions posed a threat to the raiding officers and risked causing casualties.
Hussein said the arrest of the three individuals led to the capture of two more male suspects in two separate raids around Wang Kelian on March 27 and 28.
"Preliminary urine screening found the four male suspects positive for methamphetamine, while checks on criminal records showed all five suspects have prior offences involving drugs,” he said.
He said all of them have been remanded for between five and seven days from March 25 and yesterday, and the case is being investigated under Section 39B of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952.
Hussein said action is also being taken under the Dangerous Drugs (Forfeiture of Property) Act 1988, with total seizures amounting to RM566,200, involving six vehicles, including pickup trucks, and eight motorcycles.
On the syndicate, Hussein said it is among the drug trafficking groups under police watch and is believed to have expertise in smuggling drugs via the border route.
"This syndicate is one of the active groups operating in Perlis, believed to smuggle drugs through forested areas in Wang Kelian using human couriers.
"The drugs are brought to a transit point near the main road in Wang Kelian to be collected by those arrested before being sent to other transit points. The supply is believed to be for the local market, the Klang Valley and the southern region,” he said.
He said the seized drugs could have harmed up to 2.55 million users if they had reached the market.
Hussein added that the syndicate leader, a local man in his 40s, is believed to have fled to Thailand, and police will seek assistance from authorities there to track him down. - Bernama
