MELAKA: Police crippled an international drug syndicate using Pantai Klebang as a transit point to the Indonesian market after arresting six men and seizing drugs worth RM4.02 million on Wednesday.
Bukit Aman Narcotics Criminal Investigation Department (JSJN) director Datuk Seri Mohd Kamarudin Md Din said the suspects, comprising five local men and a permanent resident aged between 40 and 74, were arrested in three raids around Melaka, Johor and Pahang on Feb 21.
"In the first raid, a suspect was arrested in the Kota Syahbandar area while transferring drugs into another vehicle and police seized 51.95 kilogrammes of syabu and 31.45 kg of ecstasy powder worth RM4.02 million.
"In the second raid, police arrested three suspects in Simpang Renggam, Johor while two male suspects were arrested in Genting Highlands, Pahang during the third raid and drugs that could supply 365,000 addicts were seized," he said at the Melaka police headquarters here today.
He said the modus operandi of the syndicate was to use land routes to smuggle drugs in from neighbouring countries in the north as well as distributing to Indonesia by sea and that all the suspects who were unemployed had a clear hierarchy of mastermind, coordinators and runners.
"We believe this syndicate has been active since mid-2023 and we are also probing if there are still dealers at large as well as links to other parties while we do not rule out Klebang Beach being used as a transit by this syndicate to ship drugs to Dumai in Indonesia," he said.
He said the case was being investigated under Section 39B of the Dangerous Drugs Act with five suspects remanded for five days and one more for seven days, starting Feb 21 to assist in investigations.
"In preliminary screening, two suspects tested positive for methamphetamine while the other four tested negative for drugs. A criminal record check found five suspects with past criminal and drug-related records.
"Police also seized various assets of the syndicate including two vehicles and cash estimated at RM103,000," he said. – Bernama