SHAH ALAM – Selangor police arrested 13 Malaysians including three women, in addition to a Vietnamese woman, all believed to be members of a drug smuggling syndicate, in a series of raids in the state that led to the seizure of 764.34kg of drugs worth RM44 million.
Selangor police chief Datuk Arjunaidi Mohamed said that following the raids conducted last Monday, police also uncovered three stores used to keep the drugs in Serdang, Ampang Jaya, and Subang Jaya, where syabu weighing 444.5kg in 431 packages, 863 slabs of heroin base (319.31kg), and 2,000 Erimin 5 pills were seized.
He said all the 14 suspects, aged between 20 and 70, tested positive for drugs, with six of them having previous records.
The syndicate is believed to have been active since a year ago, using commercial vehicles to smuggle drugs from neighbouring countries in the northern peninsula, to be kept at the stores before being distributed to the local market.
Arjunaidi said police also confiscated various assets belonging to the syndicate members, all worth RM447,709, including seven cars and cash in various currencies.
He said the suspects are in remand for seven days from last Tuesday, and police are tracking down the remaining members of the syndicate.
Meanwhile, Arjunaidi confirmed that the 26-second video showing two police officers firing several shots in an incident in Lembah Jaya Selatan, Ampang, was related to the incident.
“It is in connection with the arrest of the suspects, who were in a four-wheel-drive Ford Ranger that attempted to crash into police before it skidded and crashed into a road divider.
“The suspects then fled to a nearby river area and police went after them. During the chase, police fired two shots when ordering the suspects to stop, to avoid them endangering the public.
“The suspects were then arrested, and no one was injured,” he added. – Bernama, July 9, 2021
