JOHOR BARU: AUTHORITIES in several states have seized drugs worth more than RM6 million since last week.

The biggest seizure was carried out here following intelligence sharing between Malaysian police’s Narcotics Department and Singapore’s Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB). It paid off big as drugs worth RM5.2 million were seized in a two-day operation which started at 6am on Tuesday.

Federal Narcotics Department director Datuk Seri Noor Rashid Ibrahim said a Special Tactical Intelligence Narcotics Group (Sting) team from Bukit Aman and Johor conducted three separate raids here.

Three men aged between 41 and 54 — two locals and a Singaporean — were arrested during the raids with a seizure of 63,500 psychotropic pills and 81 litres of liquid believed to be drugs.

The arrest of the trio led the team to the Port of Tanjung Pelepas (PTP) in Gelang Patah where a container with 360 gunny sacks of what was declared as soda ash were seized. Of the 360 sacks, three contained 150g of ketamine and 484g of methamphetamine. A Proton Exora and a Proton Wira were also seized.

The total seizure was believed to be the biggest this year after a collaboration between the two countries’ respective anti-narcotics police.

Noor Rashid said the drug syndicate has been active in the international circuit for several months but this was the first time the syndicate from Karachi, Pakistan had attempted to smuggle the drugs into the country through the PTP.

Present was CNB director Ng Ser Song, who said the two nations were committed in the war against cross-border drug crimes.

“Both departments have been working closely since the 1970s.”

In Sepang, the Royal Malaysian Customs Department seized some 3.5kg of drugs worth RM655,000 at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport arrival hall last week.

Its director-general Datuk Seri Khazali Ahmad said the seizure was made along with the arrest of a Filipino on Oct 28.

The suspect, in his 30s, had arrived on a Malaysia Airlines flight from Hong Kong, carrying with him luggage and a paper box containing a water heater in which the drugs were hidden.

Khazali said Customs officers who inspected the suspect’s luggage had detected an anomaly in the plastic casing of a water heater where a white substance was concealed in a packet.

“The packet containing the powder tested positive for methamphetamine,” he said.

Khazali said the man had been remanded for seven days from the date of the arrest and had been charged under Section 39 (B) of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952.

In Kuantan, police busted a major drug distribution ring when they arrested a 34-year-old suspect, believed to be a drug dealer, and seized 15,550 psychotropic pills worth over RM500,000 on Monday.

Acting on a tip-off, a team from the state police Narcotics Department detained the man in front of a restaurant in Jalan Air Putih about 9.30am.

The suspect then brought police to his Perodua Viva where they found 12,000 psychotropic pills in a plastic bag under the driver’s seat.

He then led the police to his rented house in Taman Kota Sultan Ahmad Shah here where police seized 3,550 psychotropic pills and 152g of syabu worth some RM36,000.

State police chief Datuk Seri Sharifuddin Ab Ghani said besides the drugs, police also recovered RM3,075 cash from the suspect, who had been actively distributing the drugs here over the past three months.

In Kota Kinabalu, Customs officers detained a local man carrying 8.22kg of ketamine worth RM300,000 at the airport here on Friday.

The 32-year-old, who arrived on a flight from Guangzhou, China was stopped at Kota Kinabalu International Airport (KKIA) Terminal 2 around 3.30am. The drugs were found in four sealed paper envelopes inside a luggage bag.

State Customs director Datuk Janathan Kandok said they believed the man was on his way to Kuala Lumpur, but did not specify any connecting flight details. Additional reporting by T.N. Alagesh and Kristy Inus

Resource : NST Online