JOHOR BAHRU: Police arrested four individuals, including an elderly woman, and seized various types of drugs, worth RM4.32 million, in a raid connected to activities of a drug distribution and packaging syndicate in a water house in Pontian on May 4.
Johor police chief CP M Kumar said the raid was conducted between 1.30 am and 12.20 pm as a result of joint intelligence between the Johor Police contingent headquarters’ (IPK) Narcotics Crime Investigation Department (JSJN) and Pontian district police headquarters’ (IPD) JSJN.
“Three men, aged 40 to 59, and a woman, aged 75, were arrested in the raid,” said Kumar in a press conference at the Johor IPK here today.
“The female suspect is the older sister of one of the male suspects.”
He said the syndicate used the water house as a processing and repackaging centre for the drugs before the drugs were distributed to the local market.
Kumar said the syndicate is believed to have been active since February, and police carried out surveillance on their activities from that time before conducting the raid at the said location.
“The water house is not a rented premises but the home of the two siblings involved. This house is like any ordinary one, unlike previous locations like gated residential areas or tightly-guarded condominiums used for this kind of activity
“We normally would not think a house like this would be used (for processing drugs) but this is a new modus operandi to delude the authorities,“ he said.
He said in the raid, police seized 25.5 kilogrammes of ecstasy powder, 970 Eramin 5 pills, ecstasy pills (1,700), ketamine (232.60 grammes/gms) and ganja (369.02 gms), worth RM4.32 million.
Various equipment used for processing drugs and packing the ecstasy powder were also seized.
“The police also confiscated six cars, RM21,000 in cash, as well as S$13,000 (RM45,676) in cash,“ he said.
He said an ecstasy pill is sold at RM20 in the market, and that the drugs seized in the raid could be used by 88,234 drug addicts.
“The role of the elderly woman is still under investigation. We are also investigating the house next to where the raid was conducted,“ he said.
He also said that all the suspects were remanded for a week, ending today, for investigation under Section 39B of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952.
“We believe there are more syndicate members who are still at large, and we are trying to track them down” he added.
