Police ops since 2015 result in massive seizures of drugs

KUALA LUMPUR: More than half a billion ringgit worth of narcotics have been seized nationwide in an aggressive war on drugs since 2015.

Between January 2015 and July this year, the Bukit Aman Narcotics Crime Investigation Department (NCID) seized 129 tonnes of drugs, including syabu, heroin, ganja and ecstasy pills worth RM548.19mil.

NCID director Comm Datuk Seri Mohd Mokhtar Mohd Shariff (pic) said almost half a million suspects, including traffickers and addicts, were arrested during this period.

Of this total, 19,612 were foreigners.

“We also arrested 2,720 suspects under special preventive drug laws.

“Our war on drugs has been consistent and its success is due to factors like cooperation with foreign enforcement agencies.

“We work closely with agencies like the US Drug Enforcement Administration.

“The exchange of intelligence leads to major drug busts,” he told a press conference in Bukit Aman yesterday.

Some RM258.35mil worth of assets belonging to drug syndicates were also seized during the same period, he added.

“We also busted 76 drug labs around the country,” he said.

NCID’s research showed that syabu made up 44% of the drugs in the market, followed by heroin (32%) and ganja (6%).

In a recent operation, more than RM5mil worth of drugs including liquid cocaine packed in perfume bottles were seized in Kelantan, Kedah and Kuala Lumpur.

Nine suspects, including two Nigerian men, were also detained in the operations on Sept 11 and 12.

Comm Mohd Mokhtar said the drugs were imported from a neighbouring country for the local market, except for the liquid cocaine.

“It was imported from Brazil and bound for Thailand,” he said, adding that the two Nigerian suspects were believed to have brought it in.

“We will not let the country be used as a transit point for drug syndicates,” he stressed.

Comm Mohd Mokhtar is set to take over as Bukit Aman Special Branch director tomorrow.

Capping off more than three years as NCID director, he said the department is unrelenting in its war on drugs.

He added that the best weapon in this war is cooperation between the police and the public: “We can only be successful if we work together.”