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TAWAU: Police busted two drug smuggling syndicates here and detained seven men, including two civil servants, at two different locations around Tawau on March 20 and 21.
Tawau police chief ACP Jasmin Hussin said during the two raids, police seized Syabu worth RM130,000 while the seven suspects would be remanded for 14 days to assist investigations.
“On March 20, police stopped a car with five passengers for inspection at a housing estate in Tawau town and upon inspection found 103.40 grammes of Syabu. The five friends were aged between 30 and 59.
“All five suspects who are unemployed were positive for drugs while four of them collectively had 19 previous criminal records for drug related offences,“ he told reporters, here today.
Following the arrests of the five suspects, police managed to detain two other suspects, aged 34 and 36, both civil servants, on March 21, at 12.30 pm in Tawau town.
“During the second raid, the two suspects were in a car and when stopped by police, they tried to escape but police managed to detain them. Upon inspection, five packets of Syabu weighing 1,177.50 grams was found Iinside the car and later seized. However, both did not have any previous criminal records,“ he said.
Jasmin said both syndicates were believed to have obtained their stock (drugs) from the same source while the suspects would be investigated under Section 39B of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952.
He added that police have also struck a cooperation with neighbouring countries to share information and intelligence on matters related to drug smuggling as part of efforts to bust drug trafficking.
Jasmin said for the first three months of 2023, police have managed to seize about 11 kilograms of Syabu. - Bernama
