KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 3 — City police crippled a ketum leaves and drinks processing syndicate, dubbed Ayah Nun by authorities, after their lab in Wangsa Maju was raided on New Year’s day.

Masterminded by a 56-year-old man from Kedah and assisted by three chefs, the syndicate had been supplying the drinks to smaller traders in the city and raked in almost RM20,000 a month.

The syndicate, which had been operating for over three months, transported more than 100kg of unprocessed Ketum leaves from Kedah weekly and later processed it at in their lab in Taman Setapak.

City police chief Commissioner Datuk Mazlan Lazim said the syndicate obtains the fresh leaves from a source up north, and transported it via express busses.

"They stashed the leaves in the cargo area of the bus, and would bring in a shipment of 50 to 60kg per trip.

"Each shipment would yield more than 200 packets of the drinks, which are then sold for RM10 each to buyers,” he said.

Packets of ketum drinks seized from a lab in Wangsa Maju are displayed during a press conference at the Police Contingent Headquarters in Kuala Lumpur January 3, 2018.

When it reached the streets, traders could end up each packet for RM25.

Mazlan said the processing and boiling of leaves into the drinks were done out of a house in Taman Setapak.

"The house was their main operation base, where they processed and packaged the product.

"The mastermind was renting the house for RM1,300 a month.”

Mazlan warned bus operators to not turn into mules to transport the leaves for such syndicates.  

"Bus operators should be careful and not get involved with drug dealers and their trafficking activities,” he said.

Mazlan said a total of 116 kg of unprocessed leaves were seized from the house during the raid at 3.45pm.

He said an additional 217 packets of the drinks weighing 173.6 litres worth RM6,376 was seized.

Background checks on the suspect showed that the three accomplices, aged in their 20s to 50s, had no prior records while the mastermind had six past criminal records.

"The mastermind had previous records for robbery, drug abuse, and other crimes,” he said.

Mazlan said two of the suspects later tested positive for methamphetamine and all four are remanded until Jan 7.