GEORGE TOWN, Oct 23 — The police busted a drug trafficking syndicate and heroin-processing laboratory following the arrest of four men and the seizure of RM1.87 million in various prohibited items during a series of raids in Penang.
Penang police chief Datuk Khaw Kok Chin said the state Narcotics Crime Investigation Department (NCID), together with Bukit Aman NCID, launched a planned operation from 9am on Friday (October 20) until yesterday and raided six locations in the Timur Laut and Barat Daya districts.
“In the first raid, police arrested a 27-year-old man, the mastermind, by the roadside in the Tanjung Tokong area at 9pm (on Friday) and seized various types of drugs in his car, parked about 200 metres away.
“Police then arrested another man in the Gelugor area at 12.20am (on Saturday) and two more men, aged 28 and 33, at Lebuh Sungai Pinang at 1am (on Saturday).
“Following the arrest of these three, we seized various types of heroin and syabu kept in cars parked not far from where they were detained. Their modus operandi is to leave the vehicles containing the drugs for the buyers to come and take them without the presence of the (arrested) suspects,” he told a press conference today.
Khaw said based on the suspects’ directions, police then raided a two-storey bungalow lot in the Teluk Kumbar area at 7.10pm on Saturday and discovered a heroin-processing laboratory there.
The syndicate is believed to have rented the premises, equipped with closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras to detect the authorities. They are believed to have carried out their drug processing and trafficking activities since early this year.
“Police then raided two more locations yesterday, and based on preliminary investigations, the syndicate obtained its drugs from abroad and processed them at the house before selling them to buyers for the local market, raking in hundreds of thousands of ringgit each month.
“The four who were arrested were drug distributors. Several other suspects, believed to have expertise in ‘cooking’ heroin, are still on the loose, and we are tracking them down,” he said, adding the syndicate has a network abroad and in several other states.
In the raids, police seized heroin weighing 23.38kg, heroin base (18.4kg), syabu (1.507kg), caffeine powder (94.4kg), and various types of chemicals used for processing heroin, along with three cars.
The police also confiscated six cars, cash, jewellery, and two motorcycles, which amounted to RM191,595. The seized narcotics can feed the drug habit of an estimated 1.22 million addicts.
“One of the suspects has a cleaning company, while the other three are unemployed. Two of them have drug and crime-related records,” he said, adding that all the suspects have been remanded for a week, and the case is being investigated under Section 39B of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952.
— Bernama
