GEORGE TOWN, Oct 26 — Penang police busted an international drug trafficking syndicate with the arrest of two local fishermen and seizure of ganja (cannabis) weighing 573 kg worth RM1.43 million in two raids in Tanjung Bungah on Saturday (October 22).
Timur Laut district police chief ACP Soffian Santong said acting upon information and surveillance, a team from the Bukit Aman Narcotics Crime Investigation Department (NCID), Timur Laut District police headquarters and Marine Police Region 1 raided a hut near the beach in Tanjung Bungah at 1.40am, on Saturday.
“During the raid, police arrested a 54-year-old man with eight sacks containing 243 compressed slabs of ganja weighing 246 kg worth RM612,000, while another suspect who was steering a boat, tried to escape after realising the presence of police.
“Quick action by the police team managed to arrest the 58-year-old man, about 600-metres offshore at 1.55am. On further checks on the fishing boat, police found 11 sacks containing 321 compressed ganja slabs weighing 327 kg worth RM818,000,” he told a press conference here today.
Soffian said the investigation found that the syndicate obtained the drug supply from a neighbouring country and uses the boat, and sea to bring it to Penang to avoid police detection.
He added investigations also revealed that the 58-year-old man is the leader of the syndicate and is believed to have been actively involved in the activities since July last year, making hundreds of thousands of ringgit in profit every month.
It was believed that the man processes and repackages the ganja in small quantities before selling it to buyers in Penang.
“During the raid, the suspects were busy unloading the drugs from the boat to the land before being taken to the house to be stored and sold to buyers,” Soffian said.
The district police chief said the seized ganja would feed the habit of 1.15 million drug addicts. Police also confiscated one fishing boat and engine, worth RM93,000.
Both suspects have previous criminal records related to drug offences and have been remanded for seven days until Oct 28 to assist investigations under Section 39B of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952.
— Bernama
