13 Myanmar murders solved

KUALA LUMPUR: Police have solved 13 murder cases involving Myanmar nationals in Penang since April.
Deputy Inspector-General of Police Datuk Seri Noor Rashid Ibrahim said the success came from interrogation of 17 Myanmars arrested, who admitted to committing 13 of the 18 murder cases being investigated.
He said the killings were possibly connected to racial unrest in Myanmar.
"We have yet to confirm this but this is what we believe from what we have gathered so far. Interrogations are ongoing on the 17 Myanmars detained, including the mastermind, who was arrested last week," he said.
Noor Rashid said the detained foreigners, comprised both illegals and those with work permits.
The arrest of the foreigners also led police to a rented house in Bukit Mertajam that was used as a "slaughterhouse" to kill and mutilate the bodies of the victims.
In another case, police detained two more suspects over the kidnap and murder of a 30-year-old Myanmar businessman who was found buried in a mangrove swamp in Bidor on Dec 1.
Sentul police chief ACP R. Munusamy said today that both suspects, who are local men in their 20s and 30s, were picked up in Singapore on Dec 3 with the help of authorities there.
Police had on Nov 20 detained the first suspect in Banting, a 41-year-old man believed to be the mastermind.
The suspect was remanded for 12 days and following interrogations, he led police to the victim's body in the swamp.
Munusamy said a fourth suspect is still at large and police are hot on his trail.
The victim was abducted on Nov 12 by four armed men who later demanded a ransom of RM2 million from his wife. She failed to raise the money.
At a press conference earlier, Noor Rashid said the narcotics crime investigations department had between Thursday and Sunday arrested nine people comprising three Nigerians, a Thai, an Iranian couple and three Malaysians in four separate and unrelated cases before seizing 130kg of drugs worth RM1.5 million.
He said the arrests were made in Petaling Jaya, Penang, Kedah and the KL International Airport. The seized drugs were methamphetamine, syabu and ganja that were found concealed in baggage and electrical appliances, he said.
Noor Rashid added that the suspects, who are aged between 19 and 58, are under remand for investigations.