GEORGE TOWN, Sept 1 — Police have arrested four members of an international drug syndicate, including a married couple, and seized 86 kilogrammes of methamphetamine worth RM4.31 million in a series of raids in Selangor and Penang recently.

Penang police chief Datuk Dennis Lim Kwang Keng said the success was the result of intelligence sharing between the Royal Malaysia Police and the Royal Thai Police after Thai authorities arrested a Malaysian man in Hua Hin, Thailand, on Aug 8.

He said the Malaysian suspect was arrested at a roadblock after 166 kg of methamphetamine was found hidden in his car.

Thai narcotics police conducted an investigation and obtained intelligence, which was subsequently shared with the Malaysian Narcotics Criminal Investigation Department (NCID).

“Acting on the intelligence, we launched Op Zorav Terra to cripple the syndicate. During the operation in Selangor on Aug 13, police arrested two local men and a Thai woman who is the wife of one of them, who acted as the syndicate’s transporters,” he told a press conference at the Penang police contingent headquarters here today.

Lim said that in a follow-up operation on Aug 14, a Bukit Aman NCID team arrested a 19-year-old man in Butterworth before inspecting a Nissan Teana parked in a hotel car park there.

The team found 80 packages containing 86 kg of methamphetamine worth RM4.31 million in a specially constructed compartment in the vehicle’s boot.

He said the first three suspects are believed to have brought in the drugs from Thailand using the car.

Investigations found that the three suspects had allegedly made several trips transporting drugs into Malaysia.

“The syndicate smuggled drugs into Malaysia using Malaysian-registered vehicles that had been modified. The drugs were intended for the local market and possibly to be transported to other countries, with the syndicate using Malaysia as a transit country,” he said.

He said the syndicate was believed to have been active since June last year, with each delivery earning the suspects about RM6,000 for acting as transporters.

According to him, the syndicate’s mastermind was based in Thailand, while its members and network were also operating in Malaysia.

He said efforts to track down those involved are being intensified by the authorities in both Malaysia and Thailand.

Lim said the NCID also seized five vehicles of various types, estimated to be worth RM420,700, under the Dangerous Drugs (Forfeiture of Property) Act 1988.

“All the suspects, aged between 19 and 25, have no previous records. However, urine screening found that one suspect tested positive for ketamine. The case is being investigated under Section 39B of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952,” he said.

Also present at the press conference were Bukit Aman NCID deputy director (Enforcement/Prevention/General Policing) Datuk Zairulnizam Mohd Zainuddin @ Hilmi and Royal Thai Police Narcotics Suppression Bureau Intelligence Sub-Division Police Colonel Sintu Chanpaibooi. — Bernama