LEDANG: Police seized 260 boxes of firecrackers and fireworks worth about RM30,000 at four separate raids recently.
In the raids, held in conjunction with Op Cantas Khas, police stormed into four houses and arrested four men, aged between 23 and 40.
Two of the suspects were unemployed, while one was a lorry attendant and another a poultry trader.
Ledang police chief Supt Mohamed Salleh Abdul Razak said initial investigations revealed that the firecrackers and fireworks were believed smuggled in from a neighbouring country for sale during the Hari Raya festive season.
He said one of the suspects had a criminal record and his urine tested positive for methamphetamine.
Salleh said they were released on police bail, adding that some of the items seized were new arrivals such as ketupat and Vietnam bomb.
Salleh called on the public to inform the police if they have any information on anyone possessing firecrackers and fireworks, adding that children should avoid playing with them for their own safety.
In the first raid on Sunday at 4pm, police detained an unemployed man aged 23 at his house in Kampung Padang Lalang, Tangkak, for possessing 46 boxes of firecrackers and fireworks such as rocket, happy boom, thunder clap and whistling moon travellers.
About half an hour later, police raided another house in Kampung Bukit Banjar, Tangkak, and arrested a 39-year-old unemployed man for possessing 29 boxes of firecrackers and fireworks.
At 5.30pm on the same day, police raided another house in Jalan Pandan 5, Taman Tangkak Jaya 5, Tangkak, and arrested a lorry attendant, also 39, for possessing 76 boxes of firecrackers and fireworks such as dragon eggs, thunder clap, glow of sunset and whistling moon travellers.
On Monday at 2am, police arrested a poultry trader, aged 40, in his house at Jalan Kangkar, Grisik, Ledang, and seized 109 boxes of firecrackers and fireworks. By Chong Chee Seong