JOHOR BARU, July 22 — The Johor Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) seized four kilogrammes of illicit drugs worth more than RM200,000 in the waters off Pulau Merambong near Gelang Patah here.
The syabu (crystal methamphetamine) was seized by a MMEA patrol team that was part of Ops Jaksa in the waters of Tanjung Pelepas, Gelang Patah yesterday morning.
Johor MMEA director First Maritime Admiral Nurul Hizam Zakaria said the patrol team had detected a wooden boat navigating suspiciously about 0.4 nautical miles southwest of Pulau Merambong at 3am on that day.
“As soon as the suspects were aware of the presence of the MMEA patrol boat, they sped towards a shallow area, abandoned their boat and fled towards a nearby mangrove swamp.
“A search of the suspect’s abandoned boat, which used a 15 horsepower outboard engine without registration number, found four plastic packages containing crystal powder substance believed to be syabu that were hidden in an oil barrel,” said Nurul Hizam in a statement issued here today.
Nurul Hizam said each package is estimated to weigh about one kilogramme and has a market value of about RM50,000.
He explained that the total value of the seizures, including the wooden boat, was estimated to be about RM215,000.
“The suspect’s boat with engine had been towed to the Sungai Pulai maritime jetty, while the seized drugs were taken to the Johor MMEA headquarters for further investigation,” he said.
The Johor MMEA will investigate the case under the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952.
* A previous version of this story contained an error which has since been corrected.
