KUCHING: In the biggest drug bust here this year, illegal narcotics worth RM1.045 million were seized by the Kuching police after four raids around the city and Padawan from Friday (Aug 13) to Sunday (Aug 15).
The seizure crippled a major drug syndicate which has been in operation since 2013.
District police chief ACP Ahsmon Bajah, in confirming this, said two local suspects aged between 22 and 24 were also arrested.
“The raid on Friday was carried out based on a public tip-off. On that day, we received information from the public before our team conducted detailed intelligence to check the validity of the information conveyed.
“Our team then conducted raids on Saturday and Sunday as part of a follow-up investigation around Kuching and Padawan,” he said.
Ahsmon was speaking at a press conference held at the Kuching District Police Headquarters here today (Aug 17).
He added that the items seized included 7.563kg of 17,838 Ecstasy pills worth RM378,150 and 6.671kg of methamphetamine worth RM667,100.
He said besides the chemical products, police also seized two vehicles and RM3,553 in cash.
“The modus operandi of this syndicate involves using courier services to transport its illicit goods because the drugs it received are from outside Sarawak.
“It will provide an invalid address for the shipment and when the drugs reach the address, there will be no recipient and the goods cannot be delivered. Then, one of the suspects we arrested will provide a new address or pretend to have been contacted by the recipient to receive the package.
“The end users and small-time pushers will contact one of the suspects for the drugs to be sold in Kuching, Lundu, Padawan and other places,” he explained.
Ahsmon said both suspects, who were new recruits of the syndicate, had previous criminal records for drug related charges.
He said the suspects were being remanded until Aug 22 to assist with the investigations under Section 39B and Section 15 (1) (a) of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952.
“With the arrest of these two suspects, we believe we can unravel more related cases and will look for more suspects involved.
“We are determined to stop the rampant drug dealing activities here which are very detrimental to our society,” he said.
Ahsmon also called on the public to channel drug-related information to help the police track down on the illicit activities.
“I ask all communities to share any available information with the police so that we can have a drug-free society,” he added.
