Bukit Aman narcotics criminal investigation department acting director Mat Zani @ Salahuddin Che Ali said the syndicate was believed to have used homestays to store the drugs before distributing them locally and trafficking the narcotics to neighbouring countries.

Mat Zani said officers stopped two men in a vehicle in Subang Jaya at around 7.20am on March 27.

Checks at the front passenger seat uncovered four sacks with about 100 plastic packets of methamphetamine, while two sacks with 50 packets were found in the car’s boot.

“The total weight of the methamphetamine found in the vehicle was 156kg,” Mat Zani was quoted as saying by Harian Metro.

He said the men, aged 21 and 33, were then arrested. He said they directed the cops to a homestay in Subang Jaya, where 12 sacks with 300 packets of drugs suspected to be methamphetamine were seized.

The suspects then led the cops to a warehouse in Taman Bukit Permai, Ampang, where officers found two more sacks with 50 packets of methamphetamine.

In total, the cops confiscated 519kg of drugs with an estimated street value of RM16.6 million.

“The syndicate had been renting the homestay since March 26 for RM195 a month,” Mat Zani said, adding that preliminary investigations found that the ring had been active since September.

He said the two suspects acted as transporters for the syndicate, earning RM5,000 to RM10,000 for each delivery. Police are still trying to identify the syndicate’s mastermind.

The two suspects meanwhile have been remanded for 11 days to assist in investigations.