KOTA BARU: Kelantan police have crippled a drug syndicate that used a telecommunications shop in Tanah Merah as a distribution hub, seizing 90kg of cannabis.
Kelantan police chief Datuk Mohd Yusoff Mamat said police had conducted intelligence operations for over a month to track down the suspect.
He said at 3.30pm on Sunday, police trailed a Honda FD driven by the 27-year-old local suspect. Upon realising he was being followed, the suspect sped off before crashing by the roadside in Kampung Batu 10, Batang Merbau, Tanah Merah.
“Personnel from the Tanah Merah district police headquarters Narcotics Criminal Investigation Department, in cooperation with the Tanah Merah police station, arrested the suspect and found 14 yaba pills under the driver’s dashboard.
“Further interrogation and checks on the suspect’s mobile phone revealed he had just dropped off a parcel at a telecommunications shop in Bandar Tanah Merah,” he said at a press conference at the Kelantan police headquarters here today.
Yusoff said police raided the shop before the contraband could be posted, discovering 12 boxes containing compressed lumps of cannabis weighing 90kg and one box containing dried plants suspected to be cannabis buds weighing 100g.
“The total drug seizure is valued at RM280,000 according to current market prices, and the supply is believed capable of catering to 90,500 addicts.
“The syndicate’s modus operandi was to wrap the drugs in plastic and boxes before using courier services to distribute them inside and outside Kelantan, particularly around the Klang Valley.
“The drugs are believed to have been smuggled from a neighbouring country through illegal jetties around Lalang Pepuyu, across Sungai Golok,” he said.
Yusoff said checks showed the suspect had five previous drug-related records and tested positive for methamphetamine.
“Police are tracking down three other syndicate members believed to have fled to a neighbouring country. The syndicate is believed to have been active since August last year.
“The suspect has been remanded for seven days from yesterday until Nov 15 to assist investigations under Section 39B of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952,” he said.