State police chief M Kumar said a total of five drug trafficking syndicates were dismantled, three of which used vehicles to store drugs, while the other two used apartments.
He said a 22-year-old local man was arrested in the first operation on April 20 at 1.30pm along Jalan Abdullah Tahir, with the seizure of 9.35kg of ecstasy and 62g of ketamine valued at RM1.57 million.
“These drugs were discovered during an inspection of an apartment rented by the suspect since early March,” Bernama quoted him as saying at the Johor contingent police headquarters today.
Kumar said the next operation at a jetty in Batu Pahat on April 21, at around 11.30pm, saw the arrest of a 36-year-old local man as well as the seizure of 20.71kg of methamphetamines and 13.99g of Erimin 5 pills valued at RM3.34 million.
Kumar said the second syndicate used a Ford Ranger to store and distribute drugs to a neighbouring country, with the suspect operating the vehicle under someone else’s name.
He said on April 23, police dismantled a syndicate in Kota Tinggi, arresting a 36-year-old local man and seizing 20kg of ecstasy worth RM1.72 million. The suspect had used a rented Honda Civic to store and process the drugs to avoid detection.
In another raid in Kluang on the same day, authorities seized 9.90kg of ecstasy, 187.3g of ketamine, and 78.3g of Erimin 5 pills valued at RM1.69 million.
Kumar said a 33-year-old local man was arrested in this operation for allegedly using a Proton Iswara to store and distribute drugs.
Also on April 23, a 47-year-old Singaporean man was arrested at an apartment in Danga Bay at 10pm. He was suspected of using a fake national identity card to rent the apartment for several months.
“In total, we managed to seize 10kg of ecstasy powder, 31.3g of ketamine, 44g of marijuana, 9g of heroin, 6g of ecstasy pills, and 1.2g of yaba pills, all valued at RM1.68 million,” Kumar said.
He said all five suspects, who tested positive for methamphetamine, were remanded until tomorrow for further investigation under Section 39B of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952 for drug trafficking.