KUALA LUMPUR: Police smashed a local drug syndicate with the arrest of 16 people and seized 201kg of ecstasy powder and 5kg of cocaine, worth RM28 million.
The suspects, aged between 18 and 50, comprised of twelve Malaysians including three women; four foreigners – two women from Vietnam; a man and a woman from China. Federal Police Narcotics Department deputy director Datuk Haris Wong Abdullah said, the suspects were detained in various locations in Pahang, Selangor and Kuala Lumpur in the operations conducted by the Special Tactical Intelligence Narcotics Group (STING), last Sunday.
Out of the six local men, three were ex-convicts and had just been released from the prison last June. The arrest also led the police to a drug den at Medan Putra Condo in Kepong where they found another 77kg of ecstasy powder.
The syndicate, said Haris, processed the ecstasies from its mini factory in a bungalow in Jerantut, Pahang but the workers stayed at homestay houses around Jerantut. “Six workers – three men and women stayed as couples in several homestay houses and act as tourists to cover their illegal activity.
They would go out to process the drugs at the bungalow during the day,” said Haris, adding that the syndicate has been actively operating for a year. Haris said the drugs were for the local as well as international market. “Police also seized RM800,000 worth of cash in various currencies, two watches, and 10 cars,” he said. The suspects are being remanded under Section 39 (B) of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952 for further investigation.
