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GEORGE TOWN – Police here have crippled a drug trafficking syndicate with the arrest of a married couple and a third person, as well as the seizure of 451kg of marijuana worth RM1.13 million, in two raids in Penaga, Kepala Batas near here last Friday.
Penang police chief Datuk Mohd Shuhaily Mohd Zain said acting on information and intelligence, a police team from the state’s Narcotics Criminal Investigation Department conducted a raid on a house in Jalan Bendahara, Penaga at 7.30pm.
He said a former policeman, who was on a motorcycle in front of the house, was arrested after police found 10 compressed pieces of cannabis weighing 10.2kg and worth RM25,000 with him.
“Police then carried out a search in the house and arrested the man’s wife, a factory worker, after finding 443 pieces of cannabis weighing 441kg worth RM1.1 million at the premises,” he told a press conference here today.
Following the arrest of the couple, both aged 33, Shuhaily said police raided another house, also in Penaga, and arrested a 42-year-old businessman, as well as seized RM37,000 from him.
During the raid, police also seized three cars and two motorcycles.
The businessman is believed to be the mastermind of the syndicate, which is believed to obtain its drugs from international rings in a neighbouring country and smuggle them into the country by sea, he added.
He said the former policeman, who tested positive for drugs, was sacked from the police force in 2018 for a drug offence.
All three suspects are in remand until January 20 for investigation under Section 39B of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952. – Bernama, January 16, 2023