SEPANG: A married couple was among three people detained by police on suspicion of attempting to smuggle 36.53 kilogrammes (kg) of methamphetamine, or syabu, worth RM1.2 million, into Miri, Sarawak.

Selangor police chief Datuk Hussein Omar Khan (pix) said the suspects, aged 24 to 34, were nabbed at the car park of a condominium here on Jan 24, as they were leaving for the Kuala Lumpur International Airport to catch a flight to Miri.

Police found 38 packets of syabu in the three luggage bags they had with them, he said.

“They also tested positive for amphetamine and methamphetamine,” he told a press conference at the Sepang district police headquarters here today.

He said police had acted on information provided by Miri police, who earlier in the morning arrested a man who had arrived there via flight from Kuala Lumpur.

Hussein said investigations revealed that the trio had smuggled drugs into Miri twice before, and were paid RM10,000 for each attempt.

Meanwhile, Hussein said police arrested four men aged 20 to 30 in two separate raids along the Karak Highway in Gombak and Ampang on Jan 25, in which 10.51 kg of ganja worth RM33,000 were seized.

In the first arrest, police detained three men at a petrol station on the highway and seized 10 slabs of ganja before arresting another man in Ampang later.

All four have criminal records with three of them testing positive for drug use, he said. -Bernama