SEMPORNA: Sabah police have dealt a major blow to an international drug syndicate after seizing more than 329kg of syabu worth nearly RM18mil in two large-scale operations in Tawau and Semporna.
The drugs, enough for an estimated 940,674 single uses, were believed to have been brought into Sabah through Jalan Merapok in Sipitang before being prepared for shipment overseas.
Six suspects were arrested, while another remains at large following the operations on July 12 and July 13.
Sabah Police Commissioner Datuk Jauteh Dikun said the scale of the seizures pointed to an organised cross-border trafficking network.
"We believe all the drugs seized were being prepared for shipment overseas," he said during a press conference at the Semporna district police headquarters on Monday (Aug 3).
In the first operation in Tawau on July 12, police intercepted a vehicle and found four bags containing 74.886kg of syabu worth about RM3mil.
Four suspects aged between 24 and 40 were arrested, comprising two men and two women.
Two were Malaysians, while the other two were foreigners.
Urine tests on all four returned negative for drugs.
The seizure was estimated to be enough for 213,960 single uses.
A day later, police mounted a second operation at an oil palm plantation in Semporna, where they found 254.35kg of syabu packed into 24 black travel bags inside a van.
Two suspects were arrested, while another person believed to be involved is still being hunted.
The second haul alone could have supplied an estimated 726,714 users with a single dose each.
Together, the two seizures weighed 329.236kg.
Jauteh said preliminary investigations indicated that the latest consignment had entered Sabah through Jalan Merapok in Sipitang.
Police suspect the drugs originated from the Golden Triangle, a major narcotics-producing region spanning parts of Myanmar, Thailand and Laos.
He said the police were intensifying intelligence work and cooperation with other enforcement agencies to close gaps along routes used to smuggle drugs into Sabah.
"We cannot deny that there are gaps in certain areas, but with the experience gained from Ops Bayu 1 to Ops Bayu 12, we will do our utmost to prevent drugs from entering Sabah," he said.
Jauteh said the Sabah Narcotics Crime Investigation Department had launched 12 operations under the Ops Bayu series between January and July 30 this year.
Nearly four tonnes of drugs had been seized across the state during that period.
He said suspects linked to Ops Bayu 1 to Ops Bayu 9 had either been charged in court or subjected to preventive measures where prosecution was not possible.
Investigations into Ops Bayu 10, 11 and 12 are ongoing.
