MUAR, Sept 1 — The Sixth Battalion of the General Operations Force (GOF6) arrested four skippers, aged between 38 and 43 years old, and seized 9.3 kilogrammes (kg) of syabu estimated to be worth RM830,000 through Ops Benteng at the Parit Jawa Fishermen’s Jetty, here, on August 24.

GOF6 commanding officer Supt Rozasin Ramlan said all the suspects were arrested in the raid at about 9 am while they were attempting to smuggle the drugs across the national territorial waters.

He said, of the four skippers detained, two were locals, a civil servant and an unemployed man, who acted as land skippers.

He said that the two foreign suspects, who were Indonesian nationals, entered the country to obtain their supply of drugs to be taken back to their country of origin.

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“The GOF6 detained all the suspects at the jetty and an inspection found nine packages of drugs in a black bag that they didn’t have time to load into their boat.

“The results of interrogations on the two Indonesian skippers found that they had been on two to three smuggling trips previously via routes around Parit Karang to Parit Jawa,” he told a press conference in Bakri, here, today.

Rozasin said also seized were a Proton Saga BLM car and a 6.7-metre fibreglass boat estimated to be worth RM190,000.

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He said the Indonesian suspects also did not have valid travel documents. All the suspects had been remanded for 14 days from the date of arrest to assist in the investigation under Section 39 (B) of the Dangerous Drugs Act (ADB) 1952.

In a related development, Rozasin said during Ops Benteng since April 1, the GOF6 managed to make a series of arrests and seizures based on intelligence and public information including involving the arrest of 11 Indonesian immigrants, aged 25 to 52 years old, who entered and exit Malaysia using ‘‘rat lanes’’.

“During that period, we also seized 14.3 kg of syabu believed to be in the midst of being smuggled by sea to a neighbouring country, with the total seizure worth RM2.324 million.

“Our members and officers will continue to monitor and work with local residents, along with other enforcement agencies, under the National Task Force to curb the smuggling of illegal immigrants and other smuggling activities,” he added. — Bernama