Johor police arrest three siblings for alleged involvement in narcotics ring, firearms seized
JOHOR BARU, Sept 20 — A brother and his two sisters were among nine suspects who were arrested by police for their involvement in an illicit drug distribution syndicate following several raids in Johor yesterday.
The suspects, all locals, consisting of six men and three women, were arrested in four raids in Seri Alam and Kota Tinggi between 2am and 9.30am yesterday.
Johor police chief Datuk Kamarul Zaman Mamat said the raids were carried out by federal police and the state Narcotics Criminal Investigation Department (NCID) after intelligence gathering.
He said the three siblings, consisting of a brother and two sisters, were arrested with six others in the separate raids where the police team also seized drugs and firearms.
“Based on the modus operandi, this syndicate operates by renting several houses to be used as storage areas for their drugs before distributing them to the local market.
“The seized drugs consisted of 28 compressed pieces of marijuana weighing 27.55 kilogrammes (kg), four packets of heroin (1.81kg), six packets of syabu (2.02kg), a packet of ketamine (597 grammes (g), 540 yaba pills (81g) and 353 ecstasy pills (106g).
“The seized drugs are worth RM231,462.40 and are believed to be from the northern states of the country,” said Kamarul Zaman Mamat during a media conference at the Johor police contingent headquarters here today.
Kamarul Zaman said the seized drugs can be used by 50,578 addicts and the syndicate targets addicts in rural village areas and Felda settlements.
He said that apart from drugs, the police confiscated five automatic firearms of various types along with 136 rounds of ammunition.
“Police also seized 111 cartons of contraband cigarettes in addition to confiscating a motorcycle, four cars, jewellery and cash amounting to RM126,000.
“The total value of the confiscated goods is RM305,200, making the total value of the drug seizure and seizure for this operation, RM536,662.40,” he said.
Kamarul Zaman said that the preliminary drug screening found that two of the suspects were positive for methamphetamine, while six others had prior arrest records related to drugs and crime.
He added that the suspects, aged between 22 and 36, have been remanded for six days until September 24 to facilitate investigations under Section 39B of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952, Section 8 of the Firearms Act (Increased Penalties) 1971, Section 33 of the Weapons Act 1960 and Section 135(1)(d) of the Customs Act 1967.
