KOTA KINABALU: More than RM287.14mil worth of drugs have been seized from various crackdowns across the state between January and October this year, outgoing Sabah Police Commissioner Datuk Jauteh Dikun announced.
He said throughout these raids, police made 14,238 arrests, with the state Narcotics Criminal Investigation Department (NCID) seizing 4,051.18kg of syabu, 451.8kg of ecstasy powder, 70.9kg of ecstasy pills, 51.68kg of ketamine and 44.3kg of cannabis flowers.
He said high-profile cases involving drug seizures of 10kg and above led to the arrest of 33 suspects, comprising 26 men and seven women.
For other drug-related cases, police apprehended 14,238 suspects, involving 9,894 locals and 4,344 foreigners, Jauteh said, adding that a total of 4,870 investigation papers were opened, resulting in 4,431 cases being charged in court.
"This is a 90.99% prosecution rate, exceeding the key performance indicator (KPI) of 80%," he said during the Sabah Police Commissioner's monthly assembly on Thursday (Nov 5).
Meanwhile, he said the state Criminal Investigation Department (CID) recorded significant enforcement results through thousands of operations targeting various criminal activities.
Jauteh said the CID's D4 (crime, operations and intelligence) branch at the Sabah contingent headquarters conducted 2,225 operations, resulting in 2,214 arrests, while its D7 (gangsterism, gambling, vice) branch carried out 2,064 operations with 2,857 arrests.
The D9 Special Investigations Branch conducted 471 operations and made 504 arrests, he said.
On other matters, he said the Sabah Commercial Crime Investigation Department (CCID) recorded losses amounting to RM133.35mil from 12,962 police reports between January and October, leading to the opening of 3,282 investigation papers.
"A total of 1,452 raids were conducted, resulting in 2,034 arrests," said Jauteh.
Moving on to traffic investigation and enforcement, a total of 16,651 traffic investigation papers were opened while 16,043 cases were resolved during the same period.
He said 453 operations targeting drink-driving offences were carried out, resulting in 2,878 summonses being issued.
Jauteh said a further 411 operations targeting commercial vehicles led to 18,983 vehicles being inspected and 1,493 summonses issued for various offences.
He attributed these successes to the men on the ground, with cooperation from the public as well as media practitioners who played a huge part in disseminating accurate information and news to the public.
In a separate media appreciation event on Friday (Nov 6), he said the media continues to play a vital role in sharing police success stories and crime-fighting initiatives.
Jauteh said in the past, news was shared through word of mouth, which often ended up being inaccurate or miscommunicated.
He said unverified or altered information created false perceptions and fake news, which posed threats within the community.
"Today, with vast media platforms and coverage, we are able to share our work, create awareness and disseminate information properly," he said.
Jauteh thanked the media for working closely with the state police force throughout his service since 1995.
