JOHOR BARU: A local drug trafficking syndicate has been using frozen goods as a front to ferry ganja from Kelantan all the way down south to Johor.
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State police chief Comm Datuk Ayob Khan Mydin Pitchay said the syndicate was found to be using interstate travel letters to avoid detection while going through roadblocks set up by authorities.
“We have arrested 10 suspects, including a woman, aged between 26 and 48, believe to be the syndicate’s members during a series of raids in Kulai and around the state on Aug 8.
“Two of the suspects are civil servants while the woman works as an executive officer. Eight of them were also positive for drugs,” he told a press conference at the state police headquarters on Monday (Aug 16).
Comm Ayob said the syndicate, which has been active since December 2019, was using refrigerated lorries to bring the drugs from the east coast to here.
He said police believed the syndicate received their supply of drugs from a neighbouring country before delivering it from Kota Baru.
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“The drugs are hidden inside a modified compartment of the truck. During one of the raids, the suspects were caught while transferring the drugs into a car,” he said.
Comm Ayob also said police seized some 175kg of ganja worth RM441,163, as well as six cars, two lorries, two motorcycles, various personal belongings, a bank account with RM6,972 and RM45,550 in cash from the suspects.
He said the seized items and drugs were worth RM797,762 while background checks showed seven of them have prior drug-related records.
All of the suspects have been remanded until Aug 22 to assist in investigations under Section 39B of the Dangerous Drugs Act.-The Star