GEORGE TOWN, July 14 — A collision between a fishing boat and another boat in Kuala Muda river in Kepala Batas about a week ago has led to a drug bust involving RM2.1 million worth of drugs that were believed to be on its way to be exported.
Penang police chief Datuk Mohd Shuhaily Mohd Zain said police had stumbled upon the syndicate after receiving reports of the collision.
He said 60kg of methamphetamine worth RM2.16 million were found and it is believed that the syndicate has been trafficking drugs since early this year.
“This is due to luck, bad luck for them, good luck for us, that because of the collision, their drug trafficking activities were uncovered and we believe the drugs were meant to be exported to a neighbouring country,” he said.
He said two men, a 38-year-old and a 42-year-old, were arrested in connection with the case and a third one, who fell into the river after the collision on July 6, is still at large.
“A search and rescue operation with the fire and rescue department was held for three days from July 6 to 8 to search for the man who fell overboard but there was no trace of him or his body,” he said.
He said the suspect is believed to have escaped and is in hiding so the police are now tracing his whereabouts.
“We are now tracing two men to assist in investigations into the case, Muhammad Azim Zahari, 19, and Mohd Azha Tajuddin, 32,” he said.
Anyone with information of their whereabouts may contact Insp Muhamad Izwan Alias at 019-6542144.
The 38-year-old suspect was remanded for 12 days until July 17 while the 42-year-old was remanded for five days until July 15.
In another case, on July 12, the Penang narcotics unit together with the teams from Central Seberang Perai and South Seberang Perai busted another drug syndicate with the seizure of RM1.4 million worth of drugs and RM1.2 million worth of assets including cash, cars and jewellery.
Mohd Shuhaily said a pistol with 13 bullets were also seized during the special operation
“On July 12, at about 8.30pm, two men were arrested in front of a terrace house in Perai and 27 packets of methamphetamine weighing 29.1kg were seized,” he said.
Upon further investigation, police arrested a woman and seized cash totalling RM760,000 and jewellery believed to be obtained through drug trafficking activities.
He said based on information from the two male suspects, a pistol with 13 bullets along with a stash of drugs and a luxurious car were seized in Seberang Jaya.
“A follow-up raid was conducted in Simpang Ampat and another suspect was arrested in the raid,” he said.
The four suspects are aged between 25 and 42 and all of them have previous criminal records related to drugs.
He said the 25-year-old female suspect is a hawker, with three previous drug records, and is a girlfriend of one of the male suspects.
All three men’s urine was positive for drugs and the 42-year-old and 33-year-old suspects both had previous criminal and commercial crime records.
The total drugs seized from the overall operations were 29.1kg of methamphetamine, 4.3kg of heroin base, 8.6kg of heroin and 52.1kg of caffeine.
“The amount of drugs seized, valued at about RM1.47 million, could have been distributed to 404,500 drug addicts,” he said.
Additionally, he said RM1.25 million worth of items were also seized in the operation which included the RM790,000 cash, RM45,623 in a bank account, nine vehicles worth RM366,150 and 20 jewellery items worth RM55,304.
He said the syndicate is believed to have been in operations since early this year and the drugs seized were meant for the local market.
Three of the suspects have been remanded from July 13 to 19 while one was remanded until July 17.
The drug cases are being investigated under Section 39B of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952 for drug trafficking which carries a death sentence or a life sentence with whipping of not less than 15 lashes upon conviction.
He said the case is also being investigated under Section 8 of the Firearms (Increased Penalties) Act 1971 which carries a jail term of up to 14 years and whipping of not less than six lashes, upon conviction.
It is also being investigated under Section 8(a) of the Firearms Act 1960 which carries a jail sentence of not more than seven years or a fine of not more than RM10,000 or both, upon conviction.
