Syabu ring busted with arrest of 10 suspects

KUALA LUMPUR: Cooperation between Malaysian police and the National Narcotics Control Commission of China (NNCC) led to a local drug syndicate being busted, with the arrest of 10 men and the seizure of RM7.8mil worth of syabu, said Bukit Aman Narcotics Crime Investigations Department (NCID) director Commissioner Datuk Seri Mohmad Salleh.
"This cooperation has been going on for long and the result was the latest seizure of syabu on Saturday," Mohmad told a news conference at Ampang Jaya district police headquarters today.
Giving details of the seizure, Mohmad said upon surveillance and information gathered, separate raids were initiated in Ampang Jaya, and the raid at a parking lot of a supermarket here was crucial because most of the suspects, aged between 25 and 46, were detained there.
Mohmad said police seized 156kg of syabu during the raids and they were packed in the form of drug-laced drinks.
"The syabu was packed in Chinese tea packets, and meant to be sold in neighbouring countries," he said, adding that it was smuggled into Malaysia from a neighbouring country.
The drugs would have catered to at least 179,000 users.
During the press conference, Mohmad also revealed some of the items seized from the syndicate members, namely vehicles, jewellery and cash in multiple denominations.
Meanwhile, on another matter, Mohmad also confirmed the detention of two Malaysian women who had strapped drugs to their bodies at Haneda Airport in Japan last week.
"The women attempted to smuggle 1.5kg of syabu worth RM3.3mil before they were detained by Japanese Customs officers at the airport.
"We are communicating with our counterparts in Japan in order to obtain a full report on the matter," he added.
Newsportal The Asahi Shimbun recently reported that two Malaysian women were arrested by the Metropolitan Police and Tokyo Customs at Haneda Airport on suspicion of smuggling drugs worth about ¥90 million (RM3,251,440).
The report said the women, aged 20 and 22, departed from KLIA, concealing eight packets of the stimulants that weighed 1.5kg in the bras and sanitary pads they were wearing.
Tokyo Customs officers at the airport found the duo behaving suspiciously and carried out checks which led to the discovery of the substance.
It is learnt that the women were co-workers at a hotel and visited Japan for the first time on a short-stay visa.