JOHOR BAHRU, Oct 15 — The Johor police busted a drug distribution syndicate and seized various types of drugs, worth RM5.33 million, in three raids in the city on Friday (October 10) and Saturday (October 11).
State police chief CP Datuk Ab Rahaman Arsad said the operation, which was the result of intelligence from the Johor contingent's Narcotics Criminal Investigation Department (NCID), led to the arrest of four local men, aged between 35 and 54, and the seizure of 37.62kg of drugs.
In the first raid at a condominium in Taman Delima, two men were detained and 10kg of Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) powder, two kg of ecstasy pills, 735g of ecstasy powder, 110g of syabu, 60g of Erimin 5 pills, and various drug processing equipment were seized.
The second raid, conducted along the roadside in the Taman Sri Tebrau area, led to the arrest of a man with 1.44g of methamphetamine found in his possession.
“The third raid on a condominium in Jalan Larkin led to the arrest of a man and the seizure of 15.31kg of MDMA powder, 3.46kg of ecstasy powder, 3.49kg of ecstasy pills, 1.72kg of ketamine, 430g of Erimin 5 pills, 260g of ganja as well as 38g of syabu,” he said during a press conference at the Johor contingent police headquarters today.
Ab Rahaman added that the total amount of drugs seized could have supplied an estimated 115,948 addicts if they had reached the local market.
The syndicate is believed to have been active since March and used the modus operandi of renting gated and heavily guarded apartments as storage locations before distributing the drugs to the local market, particularly nightclubs.
Initial urine screening tests found all suspects positive for methamphetamine-type drugs, while checks revealed that two of them had prior records involving various drug and criminal offences.
He said that all the suspects were remanded for seven days until Friday (October 17) to assist in the investigation under Section 39B of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952, which provides for the death penalty or life imprisonment and not less than 12 strokes of the rotan if convicted.
"The police also seized three vehicles, namely a Mazda CX-5, a Toyota Vios, and a Perodua Bezza, as well as various jewellery worth RM123,200 under the Dangerous Drugs (Forfeiture of Property) Act 1988, bringing the total value of the seizure to RM5.45 million," Ab Rahaman said.
He noted that the raids' success was the result of continuous intelligence gathering by NCID in collaboration with the public, adding that the police would not compromise with any party involved in drug distribution activities.
