BESUT: Police have detained a 34-year-old housewife in a raid at her house in Kampung Beris Lampu, here, on Sunday, for helping her husband sell ketum juice in the village.
Present in the house during the raid were the woman’s four-month-old son, her 34-year-old male helper and a 27-year-old man, believed to be a customer.
There was no escape for all three adults as the raiding team had blocked all escape routes in the 10.30am incident.
District police chief Superintendent Mohd Zamri Mohd Rowi said the woman and her baby as well as the two men were taken to the Besut police station’s lock-up for further investigation.
“After checking the house, my men found 36 packs of ketum leaves, 120 packs of ketum juice, 139.6 litres of cough syrup, 48 carbonated drinks and several equipment used to boil the ketum leaves,” he said today.
He said the drugs and ketum juice were worth RM11,000.
Zamri said the child has been over to a relative while the woman and the two men, who tested positive for methamphetamine, were held for further investigation under Section 12(2) of the Dangerous Drug Act 1952 and Section 30 (3) of the Poison Act 1952.
He said initial investigation revealed that the woman’s husband, aged 48, who was not home during the raid, had a record of drug related offence in June.
“We believe that the husband is now in hiding and he hired the 34-year-old helper from Kampung Kok Lanas, Kelantan to help him process the ketum juice,” he added.
He said police are tracking down the husband from Kampung Jelawat, Bachok, Kelantan to assist in the investigation and believed that he is a key suspect in the case.