RM13.34m cannabis haul: Selangor police bust four drug syndicates

SHAH ALAM, July 9 — Selangor police have crippled four syndicates involved in the distribution of cannabis buds, with seizures valued at RM13.34 million in operations carried out at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) Terminal 1 and Kota Warisan, Sepang between June 29 and July 4. 

Selangor police chief Datuk Shazeli Kahar said the operations carried out by the KLIA district police headquarters Narcotics Crime Investigation Division in collaboration with Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad (MAHB) auxiliary police led to the arrest of two foreign men, a local man and two local women aged between 25 and 40. 

He said the first case on June 29 involved the arrest of a 25-year-old foreign man from South-east Asia after authorities detected two suspicious pieces of luggage at KLIA Terminal 1 containing 60 packages of cannabis buds weighing 33.6 kilogrammes (kg). 

“On the same day, police also arrested a 35-year-old local woman after discovering 39 packages of cannabis buds weighing 21.1 kg in a suitcase at the terminal,” he said in a press conference at the Selangor police contingent headquarters Officers’ Mess today. 

In the third raid on July 3, Shazeli said police detained a local married couple in the parking area of a condominium in Kota Warisan before discovering 146 packages of cannabis buds weighing 76 kg at their rented unit. 

Police also seized a multi-purpose vehicle (MPV) worth RM20,000 believed to have been used by the couple, aged 40 and 31, for drug distribution activities.

“On the following day (July 4), a 27-year-old European man was arrested after police seized 68 packages of cannabis buds weighing 35.5 kg from two suitcases he was carrying at KLIA. 

“The total seizure amounted to 166.2 kg of cannabis buds, estimated to be worth RM13.34 million,” he said. 

According to Shazeli, further checks found that the three local suspects had prior records related to drugs and crime, while the two foreign suspects had no previous offences in Malaysia and had entered the country using social visit passes. 

He said urine screening found one of the local women positive for amphetamine and methamphetamine, while the local man tested positive for THC. 

The five suspects have been remanded for between seven and 14 days and are being investigated under Section 39B of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952. 

In a separate development, Shazeli said the investigation into a Facebook post by former Damansara Member of Parliament Tony Pua, which allegedly touched on sensitive matters involving the Constitutional Monarchy and the Rukun Negara, has been taken over by Bukit Aman’s Classified Criminal Investigation Unit (USJT). — Bernama