Foreign detainee dies after complaining of shortness of breath

JOHOR BAHRU - A foreign man who was detained over alleged drug possession died after complaining of shortness of breath early today.

South Johor Bahru (SJB) District Police chief ACP Raub Selamat said the 49-year-old was arrested along with 54.7 grams of ganja at a condominium around the city at 12.10am.

However, he said the individual who was investigated in accordance with Section 39A (2) of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952 suffered shortness of breath during the documentation process at the Narcotics Crime Investigation Division office of the SJB Police Headquarters at 1.20am.

"The individual was taken to the Sultanah Aminah Hospital in an ambulance.

"However, the medical officer who provided treatment confirmed the individual's death at 2.27am," he said in a statement here.

Raub said the police called the individual's three children, who confirmed that their father had a history of heart complications and high blood pressure.

He said the case was classified as sudden death following the post-mortem, and that the case would also be investigated by the Criminal Investigation Unit on Deaths in Custody from Bukit Aman.

Meanwhile, in a separate case, Raub said the police arrested 12 local men aged 19 to 45 in three locations around the city, yesterday.

He said all the individuals were arrested between 1 and 3am as they were believed to have set off fireworks in conjunction with the Chinese New Year at a public place without a licence, and the case was being investigated under Section 3 (5) of the Minor Offences Act 1995. - BERNAMA