KUALA LUMPUR: The Narcotics Crime Investigation Department (NCID) is seeking 1,000 additional positions to strengthen intelligence and enforcement operations against major drug syndicates amid manpower shortages.
NCID director Datuk Hussein Omar Khan said the proposal had received Cabinet approval in principle last month and required further discussions with the Public Service Department before the positions could be finalised.
He said the additional manpower would strengthen the department’s Intelligence and Operations Division, whose undercover operatives gathered intelligence, identified syndicate networks and supported major enforcement operations.
“Without the Intelligence and Operations Division, we would not be able to build major cases. We would only be arresting drug addicts or street-level pushers,” he said.
Hussein was speaking to reporters at an appreciation ceremony for the division, which recognised partner agencies and companies that had assisted police in operations, raids, seizures and arrests.
He said the dismantling of a major clandestine drug laboratory in Puncak Alam several months ago as an example of the division’s role.
The operation, which involved drugs worth billions of ringgit, required months of intelligence gathering before investigators identified the facility and determined when to strike.
Hussein said NCID had recorded seizures totalling nearly 70 tonnes of drugs in the first 10 months of this year, compared with 89 tonnes throughout last year.
He said more needed to be done to disrupt drug supplies and dismantle trafficking networks.
“As long as we do not cripple these syndicate networks, drugs will continue to be available in the market,” he said.
The additional positions would also support specialised units focusing on online investigations, international drug trafficking, courier services and containerised cargo.
Hussein said a dedicated international investigations unit was needed to handle increasingly complex cases involving private jets, vessels and cross-border trafficking networks.
He said specialised teams were also needed to monitor courier services and container movements, which were being exploited by drug traffickers.
The proposed expansion would strengthen NCID’s capabilities at district, state and federal levels, allowing it to conduct more operations and dismantle more syndicates.