PETALING JAYA: Police have seized drugs worth RM16.2 million from an unregistered house of worship in Klang believed to have been used as a storage facility.
Selangor police chief Shazeli Kahar said the operation came to light after the arrest of a man who worked part-time at the premises, Berita Harian reported.
He said the house of worship was among four locations raided by the state police narcotics crime investigation department in five separate operations between Oct 13 and 19. The raids targeted four different syndicates.
In total, police seized 129 packets of suspected compressed cannabis buds weighing 81.3kg, 327 packets of compressed cannabis weighing 37kg, 3,510 ketamine liquid cartridges, 40kg of ketamine, 84 bottles of liquid ecstasy, 20.6kg of heroin and another 25.4kg of ketamine.
Police also seized assets worth RM54,835 from four local suspects, including a Honda Accord and a Proton Saga, Shazli added.
"We believe the cases involve drug syndicates. However, we are still verifying whether gangsterism or secret societies were also involved," he was quoted as saying at a press conference at the Selangor police contingent headquarters today.
Shazeli said eight people, comprising six men and two women aged between 19 and 48, were arrested to assist investigations under Section 39B of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952.
Those arrested included three foreign men and a woman who are believed to be linked to local and international drug syndicates, he said, adding that they had entered Malaysia on social visit passes.
"Some of the foreign suspects arrived just a day before their arrest, while others arrived a few days earlier.
"They are believed to have transited through KLIA before travelling to their next destinations, but we managed to detect drugs in their luggage," he said.
Shazeli said the drugs were believed to have originated from a neighbouring country and were intended for distribution in Malaysia and overseas.
He said checks showed that only one suspect had a criminal record of seven drug-related and other criminal offences.