KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 28 (Bernama) -- Police have dismantled three drug-trafficking syndicates believed to be linked through nine raids at several condominiums across the Klang Valley, seizing drugs worth RM2.15 million.
Kuala Lumpur police chief Datuk Fadil Marsus said 23 suspects aged between 21 and 40 were detained during an operation carried out by the Kuala Lumpur Narcotics Criminal Investigation Department and the Cheras District Narcotics Criminal Investigation Division from Oct 19 to 22.
He said the suspects comprised 16 local men and one local woman, as well as three foreign men and three foreign women, including Chinese nationals, believed to be involved in the syndicate network.
“In the first operation, conducted from Oct 19 to 21, police raided three condominiums in Sungai Besi, Cheras and Bandar Baru Seri Petaling, resulting in the arrest of eight local men and two foreign men,” he told a press conference here today.
Fadil said the second operation on Oct 20 led to 11 arrests following four raids in Sungai Besi, Taman Sri Endah, Ampang Mewah and Bukit Bintang. The arrested included seven local men, one local woman, and three foreign women.
Meanwhile, he said the third operation on Oct 22 at a condominium in Pudu led to the arrest of one local man and one foreign man.
“A total of 393.965 kg of drugs were seized in the three operations, including 966 plastic packets of suspected MDMA weighing 254.374 kg, 401 bottles of liquid MDMA weighing 111.8 kg, six plastic containers of suspected MDMA powder weighing 9.76 kg, 11 cans of suspected liquid MDMA weighing 5.5 kg, and three clear glass bottles of suspected ketamine weighing 0.83 kg.
“Other items seized included 1,250 pills suspected to be Erimin 5 weighing 0.385 kg, two plastic packets containing suspected ecstasy weighing 0.365 kg, 40 packets of suspected ketamine weighing 0.046 kg, and one plastic packet of suspected methamphetamine weighing 0.001 kg,” he said.
Fadil said police had also seized six vehicles, namely a Toyota Vellfire, Honda City, Proton Inspira, Perodua Axia and two Honda Civics, as well as RM5,066 in cash, bringing the total value of the seizures to RM295,066.
He said the syndicates were believed to supply drugs to entertainment venues and private parties, with each bottle of the liquid drug estimated to sell for RM300.
He added that the syndicates also used luxury condominiums to store and package drugs, choosing premises with multiple layers of security and strict access controls to evade police detection.
“Preliminary investigations found that the drugs were believed to have been brought into the country from abroad before being processed, stored and packaged locally for distribution to users through various communication channels, including face-to-face orders, websites, WeChat and WhatsApp,” he said.
Background checks revealed that six local suspects had previous records for criminal and drug-related offences, five foreign suspects had entered the country using social visit passes and another lacked travel documents, he said.
Fadil said investigations were ongoing to establish links between the three syndicates and determine each suspect's role, adding that further arrests had not been ruled out.
He said all suspects were detained under Section 39B of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952.
-- BERNAMA