SHAH ALAM: A drug syndicate's tactic of using an unregulated house of worship in Klang as a storehouse was uncovered following the arrest of a part-time worker at the premises.
Selangor police chief Datuk Shazeli Kahar said the house of worship was among four locations raided by the state Narcotics Crime Investigation Department in five separate operations across the state between Oct 13 and Oct 19.
He said various types of illicit drugs worth RM16.2 million, including cannabis buds, ecstasy, ketamine, and heroin, were seized in the operations targeting four different syndicates.
"Initial checks found that the house of worship was unregistered, but further investigations are ongoing.
"At present, we believe this case involves a drug syndicate. However, we are also verifying whether gang activities or triad elements are involved," he told a press conference at the Selangor police headquarters today.
Shazeli said eight people, comprising six men and two women aged between 19 and 48, were arrested to facilitate investigations under Section 39B of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952.
He said three local men, one local woman, and four foreigners were detained during the raids.
"Three foreign men and a foreign woman are believed to be involved in local and international drug syndicate networks. They used social visit passes to enter the country, and checks are being conducted with the Immigration Department.
"Some of these foreign suspects were arrested just a day after entering the country, while others were detained several days after arrival. They were believed to be in transit at KLIA before departing to their next destination, but we detected drugs in their luggage," he said.
Shazeli said the drugs were believed to have originated from a neighbouring country for both local and international distribution.
Checks revealed that only one suspect had a prior record involving seven drug and criminal offences.
In total, police seized 129 plastic packets containing compressed cannabis buds weighing 81.3kg, 327 packets of compressed cannabis (37kg), 3,510 liquid ketamine cartridges, 40kg of ketamine powder, 84 bottles of liquid ecstasy, 20.6kg of heroin, and an additional 25.4kg of ketamine.
"Police also seized assets worth RM54,835 from four local suspects, including a Honda Accord and a Proton Saga.
"The operations were carried out by the state narcotics department together with the Gombak and KLIA district police headquarters, as well as Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd auxiliary police," he said.
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