TAWAU: Seven suspected drug dealers, including two civil servants, were arrested in police raids at two different locations here on March 20 and 21.
Tawau Police Chief ACP Jasmin Hussin said during the two raids, police seized Syabu worth RM130,000, while the seven suspects would be remanded for 14 days to assist investigations.
He said on March 20, police stopped a car with five passengers for inspection at a housing estate in Tawau town and upon inspection, found 103.40gm of Syabu.
The five friends were aged between 30 and 59.
“All five suspects who are unemployed were found positive for drugs while four of them collectively had 19 previous criminal records for drug related offences,” he told reporters here, Monday.
Following the arrests of the five suspects, police managed to detain two other suspects, aged 34 and 36, both civil servants, on March 21, at 12.30pm in Tawau town.
“During the second raid, the two suspects were in a car and when stopped by police, they tried to escape but police managed to detain them.
“Upon inspection, five packets of Syabu weighing 1,177.50gm was found inside the car and later seized. However, both did not have any previous criminal records,” he said.
Jasmin said both syndicates were believed to have obtained their stock (drugs) from the same source and the suspects would be investigated under Section 39B of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952.
He added that police have also struck a cooperation with neighbouring countries to share information and intelligence on matters related to drug smuggling as part of efforts to bust drug trafficking.
For the first three months of 2023, Jasmin said, police have managed to seize about 11kg of Syabu.
He urged the public to provide information related to such activities to the IPD Tawau hotline (089-752222) or via the Tawau District Police website.
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