KEPALA BATAS - Police have smashed a drug trafficking syndicate with the arrest of six members of a family and seizure of drugs worth RM694,412 in Penang.
Seberang Perai Utara district police chief ACP Mohd Radzi Ahmad said apart from selling drugs in the local market, the syndicate also ‘exported’ drugs using courier service.
He said police got their break after a weeklong surveillance when they arrested the mastermind and his lover, aged 36 and 32 respectively, by the roadside in Bayan Lepas on the island at about 2.30 pm last Thursday.
"Following that, police raided a house in Taman Bagan, Butterworth, at 4.30 pm and arrested four family members of the mastermind, who are his parents, his younger brother and sister-in-law.
"The four suspects picked up in the house are aged between 32 and 66. Police then raided a courier company in Bayan Lepas at 6.30 pm and seized 259 grammes (g) of syabu worth RM9,324,” he told a press conference at the district police headquarters here today.
He said police raided the family house again at 11.30 pm on the same day and confiscated 447 packets of methylenedioxy-methamphetamine (MDMA) powder weighing 13,462 g and worth RM673,100, and 333 g of syabu valued at RM11,988.
Mohd Radzi said the drugs for the foreign market were hidden in cement moulds sent by courier service, with each delivery containing syabu worth RM10,000 to RM20,000.
"For the local market, the syndicate supplied MDMA-laced drinks powder to entertainment centres at RM150 to RM200 per packet," he added.
He said the syndicate was believed to have been operating since June this year, raking in profits of hundreds of thousands of ringgit.
The two lovers and the mastermind’s parents were unemployed while the married couple were running a food outlet.
They have all been remanded for five days until Aug 9 for investigation under Section 39B of the Dangerous Drugs Act.
The suspects tested negative for drugs but three of them had previous records, he added.
The seized drugs could feed the habit of 3,319 addicts.
In another case, Mohd Radzi said police arrested a 26-year-old trafficker and seized drugs worth RM70,080 from a house in Mak Mandin near here on Thursday.
The man has also been remanded for five days until Aug 9 for investigation under Section 39B of the Dangerous Drugs Act. - BERNAMA