Police bust syndicate smuggling drugs via TikTok, WeChat

JOHOR BAHRU - Police busted a syndicate that used TikTok and WeChat applications to sell drugs following the arrest of eight individuals, including a foreign woman, in four separate raids around the city last Sunday and Monday.

Johor deputy police chief DCP M Kumar said those arrested comprised five men and three women, aged between 19 and 67.

"All of them, including a man believed to be the syndicate’s mastermind, were arrested as a result of intelligence gathering that has been going on since last March. Their modus operandi is to advertise the drugs on TikTok and WeChat before distributing them in the local market.

"The syndicate members will leave the drugs somewhere before the buyer picks them up. We also found that this syndicate has turned the gated and guarded condominium into a drug storage and packaging base,” he told a press conference at the Johor Police Contingent Headquarters here today.

Kumar said the raids also saw the seizure of various types of drugs worth RM926,644, two vehicles, RM11,910 in cash and Singapore dollar notes, adding that the suspects have been remanded for seven days from Monday.

Meanwhile, in a separate case, Kumar said police arrested eight individuals, including two women, and seized 16.22 kilogrammes of heroin worth RM134,657 in separate raids around Batu Pahat, last Monday.

He said the suspects, aged between 19 and 53, were believed to have been involved in a drug distribution syndicate that had been active since last March and that all of them had been remanded for seven days beginning Monday.

"The syndicate’s modus operandi is using rented vehicles and houses to store drugs before distributing them to the local market,” he said.

Kumar said the two cases were being investigated under Section 39B of the Dangerous Drug Act 1952. - BERNAMA