Penang police nab three foreigners with drugs worth RM978,500

GEORGE TOWN - Penang police busted a drug trafficking syndicate after arresting three foreigners and seized drugs worth RM975,500 in a series of raids here two days ago and yesterday.

Penang police chief Datuk Mohd Shuhaily Mohd Zain said police held two raids around George Town and arrested a couple and a man before raiding an apartment in Jelutong, following intelligence and surveillance carried out over the past month.

"In the raids, we arrested a 34-year-old woman with her 46-year-old boyfriend and a 47-year-old friend who are construction contractors and possess travel documents, with one living in Malaysia for the past 10 years.

"Police confiscated 90,000 yaba or horse pills, syabu in a package of Chinese herbal tea (1,930 grammes) and 27,000 psychotropic pills, all worth RM978,500, as investigation showed the drugs were brought in from neighbouring countries for the local market," he said at a press conference here today.

He said the syndicate sold psychotropic pills, which were controlled drugs used for depression and insomnia, to foreign workers at construction sites around the state.

Mohd Shuhaily said the syndicate had been active since March last year and following the arrests, police also confiscated three vehicles, jewellery and RM30,000 in cash.

"All the seized drugs from the three individuals were worth RM82,550 and they are now remanded for seven days to assist in the investigation under Section 39B of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952," he said.

In another development, he said police arrested three local men aged 39 to 53 years and seized 950 gms of cannabis along with RM181,000 in cash in a raid in Kubang Semang, Bukit Mertajam near here yesterday.

He said police initially detained two men in a house before arresting the third one next door where they found RM181,000 in cash believed to be the syndicate's proceeds from drug trafficking.

"The cannabis (sufficient for 1,900 addicts) is worth RM2,375 and what is interesting in this case, the syndicate has been keeping cash from drugs since the middle of last year at home," he said.

He said the two men who are construction workers and another, a farmer, had past records and tested positive for drugs, with all three now remanded for seven days to be investigated under Section 39B of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952. - BERNAMA