KOTA BARU: The Ninth Battalion of the General Operations Force (PGA9) has seized almost RM100,000 worth of ketum leaves, cough syrup, frozen chicken and vehicles in three operations carried out near the Malaysia-Thailand border yesterday.
Its commanding officer Supt Nor Azizan Yusof said all the raids were carried out by the PGA9’s intelligence branch from 1 am to 7.30am.
He said the first arrest and seizure involved a 24-year-old man from Kubang Gadong, Pasir Mas, with 35 pounds of ketum leaves and 576 bottles of liquid believed to be cough syrup.
“In the incident, a team from the intelligence branch, while patrolling the area, spotted a man in car behaving in suspicious manner near the Rantau Panjang town.
“An inspection on the car found transparent packages containing ketum leaves and hundreds of bottles containing liquid believed to be cough syrup,” he said in a statement today.
He said the total amount of seizures of ketum leaves, cough syrup and the car estimated at RM46,985 and all seized items and the man were handed over to the Pasir Mas district police headquarters for further action.
Meanwhile, also in the same day, a total of 1,440kg of frozen chicken kept in 120 boxes were seized in Kampung Tok Sangkut near Jeram Perdah, Pasir Mas.
Nor Azizan said in the 6.30am incident, the patrol team found the items, believed to have been smuggled from Thailand, abandoned in two cars after the drivers fled the scene.
He said the two cars and items were estimated to be worth RM46,000 and all were sent to the Royal Malaysian Customs Department for further action. — Bernama
