GEORGE TOWN: Police busted a drug and counterfeit medicine processing laboratory and arrested two siblings in a raid at a house in Taman Seri Rambai here four days ago.
Acting on a tip-off, police raided the house occupied by a 44-year-old woman about 5.30pm on Thursday.
They did not find any drugs in the house but instead found a gate remote control, keys and utility bills of another house about 500metres away.
The woman then led police to the other house where police found 7,135 ecstasy pills, 2.13 kg ecstasy powder and 1.3 kg caffeine powder.
Police also found 8kg of Cypron-type and 10kg of Contas 500-type counterfeit medicines packed in aluminium foil. The total value of the drugs seized was RM769,250.
Also seized in the raid were four machines believed to have been used to pack the counterfeit medicines.
State deputy police chief Datuk Roslee Chik said the house was used not only to process ecstasy pills but also as a lab to process counterfeit drugs,
"We believe the drugs were meant for the local market but are still investigating whether the medicines were for the local or foreign market.
"It's hard to identify whether these medicines were sold in local pharmacies and we will be sending the medicines to a chemist to check whether it was laced with or contains any other drugs," he said at a press conference at Penang Police Contingent headquarters, Jalan Penang, here today.
Roslee said further investigation revealed that the woman was working with her 46-year-old brother.
"Following the raid, we released information about the woman's brother to agencies guarding the country's exit points.
"The brother was nabbed at Kuala Lumpur International Airport 2 (klia2) at 5.30am on Friday. He was about to board a flight to Miri, Sarawak, to escape.
Roslee said the man has a criminal record for rioting. The woman has no criminal record.
"We are still investigating the two to find out if they were working with others," he said, adding that the duo was remanded for a week.
The case was being probed under Section 39B of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1951, which carries a mandatory death sentence, if convicted.