Teenager held over 143kg of ketum leaves
PADANG TERAP: The armed forces detained a teenager and seized 143kg of ketum leaves worth RM13,000 near Pos Sehara.
Army 6 Brigade chief Brigadier-General Datuk Abdul Aziz Ismail said the teenager, an 18-year-old Thai, was detained by a patrol team from 2 Border Regiment while he was riding a motorcycle heading towards the border at 5am yesterday.
Two of the teen’s accomplices, however, managed to escape.
“The patrol, led by Corporal Zulkifly Ahmad, saw three men on motorcycles heading towards the border.
“They were acting suspiciously.
“The team attempted to stop the men, but two of them riding a motorcycle ditched the vehicle and managed to escape on foot.
“However, we managed to detain the teen who was riding solo on another motorcycle.
“We seized six gunny sacks of ketum leaves which the trio were carrying between their motorcycles,” he said.
Aziz said the suspects were believed to have been attempting to smuggle the ketum leaves into Thailand as the demand for them there was high.
He said the border regiment team also seized the two motorcycles used by the trio, a Honda Wave and a Yamaha Spark.
“The teen, who works in a restaurant in the area, and the items seized were handed over to the district police headquarters for further investigation,” he said.