KUALA LUMPUR, March 11 — An international drug trafficking syndicate that smuggled drugs in religious items was busted after police arrested 12 men, including a Taiwanese national as well as a woman around the Klang Valley on Monday.
Police checks revealed that the Taiwanese national, aged 30, was the mastermind of the syndicate that had been active since November last year and was also the chemist who processed ketamine.
Bukit Aman Narcotics CID director Datuk Razaruddin Husain said the arrests were made after police raided a courier service company in Cheras and found five boxes declared as containing prayer mats of various colours that were destined for Indonesia.
Checks on the boxes revealed crystals suspected to be methamphetamine weighing an estimated 4.12 kilogrammes (kg), he said in a media conference at the Kuala Lumpur contingent police headquarters here today.
“Upon further investigations, we detained 13 individuals at six locations around Kuala Lumpur and Selangor, including two drug processing laboratories and seized various types of drugs and chemicals, as well as equipment believed to be used for processing drugs.
“Based on these arrests, we managed to seize a variety of drugs including ketamine, syabu, Erimin 5 and ecstasy with an estimated combined weight of 96.1 kg, worth around RM4.9 million,” he said.
Razaruddin said the syndicate would use courier services to move the drugs into the international market, including New Zealand, South Korea, Indonesia and Taiwan.
“Checks revealed that the Taiwanese suspect is wanted by his country for theft and attempted murder…we will work with the police there for further investigation,” he said.
He said 12 suspects tested positive for drugs and 10 had prior criminal records.
The suspects, aged 18 to 35, have been remanded for seven days till Sunday for further investigation under Section 39B of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952 and the Dangerous Drugs (Forfeiture of Property) Act 1988.
— Bernama
