JOHOR BARU: A civil servant and a married couple were among nine suspects arrested in a series of raids here for allegedly being involved in a drugs smuggling syndicate.
Johor deputy police chief Deputy Comm M. Kumar said police also seized a variety of drugs worth more than RM1mil in a four-day operation in Johor Baru, Mersing and Kota Tinggi.
“The syndicate is believed to have been active since December last year. The Johor Narcotics Criminal Investigation Department detected their activity and following further investigation, an operation was launched to smash the ring.
“We managed to arrest nine suspects, including three women in a series of raids in the three districts. The suspects are all locals between the ages of 19 and 34.
“The suspects also include a 33-year-old civil servant and a married couple,” he told the press at the Johor police headquarters.
DCP Kumar said the group tried to hide its activities by renting houses at gated and guarded residential areas that were used to store the drugs.
“On top of that, they also hid the drugs in cars that were registered under the names of their family members.
“Investigations are ongoing to find other members of the syndicate who are still at large,” he said, adding that family members of the suspects whose names were used for the car registration would also be investigated.He also noted that of the nine suspects, four have criminal records and one tested positive for drugs.
“Apart from the drugs, believed to be syabu, heroin, ketamine and eramin 5 pills, we also found 1.2 litre of ketum juice and 72 packets of fireworks,” he said.
Also seized were six cars, four motorcycles, gold jewellery and some cash.
DCP Kumar said that the total amount of all the items seized, including the drugs, was worth about RM1.699mil.
The case is being investigated under Section 39B of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952, which carries a death sentence or life imprisonment and whipping upon conviction.
The suspects have been remanded for seven days until Feb 14.
DCP Kumar said up until Feb 10, a total of 2,170 people had been nabbed for being involved in various drug offences.
“We have also seized a total of 646.63kg of drugs worth RM5.65mil and items worth RM2.84mil,” he added.
