Three childhood friends arrested for trafficking cannabis via Telegram

KUALA LUMPUR - The police have arrested three childhood friends on Monday on suspicions of heading a cannabis trafficking syndicate via Telegram.

Sentul district police chief Assistant Commissioner Ahmad Sukarno Mohd Zahari said the three local men, 20 to 24, were arrested in two raids between 2.20 pm and 5.50 pm in the areas around Publika and Wisma Cosway, Jalan Raja Chulan here.

The syndicate had been using courier services to distribute the drugs throughout the Klang Valley without meeting customers directly after collecting their orders via Telegram, he said, adding that interrogation of the suspects led the police to a premises in Wisma Cosway, where the police seized 23.322 kilogrammes (kg) of cannabis.

"A white polystyrene box filled with dried cannabis leaves weighing 0.414 kg and three clea plastic bags filled with cannabis flowers with a total weight of 0.65 kg were also seized,” he said in a media conference at the Sentul district police headquarters here today.

A Mercedes Benz and a Nissan Almera were also seized at the Wisma Cosway parking lot and all seizures were estimated to be worth RM85,980, he said.

"The three suspects do not have any prior criminal records, but one tested positive for THC,” he said, adding that the case is being investigated under Section 39B of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952.

The police have also filed extensions for the suspects’ five-day remand period, which ends today. - BERNAMA