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GEORGE TOWN – Police smashed an international drug trafficking syndicate with the arrest of six men, including five foreigners and the seizure of 183.6kg of syabu worth RM6.058 million in a series of raids in Penang and Kuala Lumpur on March 29 and 30.
Penang police chief Datuk Mohd Shuhaily Mohd Zain said the suspects, aged between 21 and 45, were nabbed during five separate raids in the two states after one month of surveillance and intelligence.
“The first arrest involved a foreigner working as a construction worker at Juru Autocity at 6pm on Wednesday. A check on the car he was in found five blocks of black plastic containing 178 packets of syabu.
“All the drugs were to be transported to a neighbouring country by sea using fishing boats. This is the largest seizure involving syabu this year,” he told a press conference today.
Following the arrest, police raided three more locations in Penang and detained four foreigners, who are also construction workers and fishermen and seized a fibre boat with two engines worth RM380,000.
Shuhaily said police also raided a house in Bukit Bintang, Kuala Lumpur, at 4am yesterday, picked up a local man, and seized cash totalling RM500,000.
He said seven vehicles, including a Porsche Panamera, Toyota Alphard and Mercedes-Benz, worth RM1.381 million, were also seized.
“Investigations revealed that the syndicate had been active since the middle of last year. They would transport syabu packed in Chinese tea packets from Kuala Lumpur to Penang before sending them to a neighbouring country.
“All suspects tested negative for drugs and two of them had previous criminal and drug records,” he said, adding that further investigations are underway to track the network.
Shuhaily said the suspects have been remanded for seven days until April 5 to assist in investigations under Section 39B of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952. – Bernama, March 31, 2023