Cabbie held with 2.7kg drugs inside his taxi

IPOH: A 65-year-old cabbie was arrested with two others after police found 2.7kg worth of heroin inside his taxi.

A team of policemen from the state narcotics department and Kampar narcotics department stopped the taxi at the Gopeng toll plaza exit on Friday morning and found the drugs with a street value of RM40,658.25.

The cabbie was immediately arrested.

Hours later, the teams arrested the other two men – a labourer and a fish pond owner – at two locations in Malim Nawar.

State narcotics chief Asst Comm R. Ravi Chandran said at a press conference here that the taxi driver, the main suspect, didn’t have any criminal record but had tested negative for drugs.

“Of the other two suspects, one tested positive for morphine and another had eight criminal cases on his record.

“We believe this syndicate has been active for three months but we are still investigating. The drugs can be abused by up to 3,500 drug users,” he said.

“I would like to warn syndicates not to come here. We are going all out to put a stop to this.

“We would like to thank the public for tipping us off and we hope they will continue doing so in our bid to end drug trafficking here,’’ ACP Ravi Chandran said.

All three are being remanded until Friday under Section 39B of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952, which carries the mandatory death penalty upon conviction.