Trafficking-by-drone suspect ‘Boy Setan’ caught

Police have arrested the suspect responsible for distributing drugs using a drone from Singapore to Johor Baru. Federal Narcotic Crime Investigation Department (NCID) director Comm Datuk Ramli Din said the suspect known as “Boy Setan” was arrested yesterday.

“The suspect who is responsible for distributing drugs via a drone from Kranji, Singapore to Johor Baru has been apprehended this (yesterday) morning.

“Congratulations Johor NCID,” he said in a tweet.

Earlier, police said they were looking for a Singaporean man known as “Boy Setan” for allegedly smuggling drugs into the island republic using a drone.

Johor police chief Comm Datuk Ayob Khan Mydin Pitchay had said that “Boy Setan” is 40-year-old Mohamad Azli Ahmad Said, adding that he is also wanted by their Singapore counterparts for drug offences.

“This is the first time that we have ever come across drug smugglers using drones to smuggle drugs between two locations, ” he said, adding that the suspect is believed to be in Johor.

“Usually, if a drone weighs more than 20kg, users must get permission from the Department of Civil Aviation (DCA) before flying them. We believe this suspect used a small drone, ” he said during a press conference at the state police headquarters here on Monday.

On Saturday, Bernama reported that two Singaporean men were arrested for using a drone to smuggle drugs into Singapore from Malaysia, according to the Singapore Police Force and the Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB).

The flight data retrieved from the phone of one of the suspects showed that the unmanned aircraft had flown from Kranji to Johor Baru and back again to Kranji.

At 5.45pm on June 17, police detected unusual unmanned aircraft activity in the vicinity of Kranji reservoir park and observed an unmanned aircraft with a bag attached to it hovering in the air, the statement said.

Police subsequently arrested two men aged 29 and 34, believed to be the operators of the drone.

During a subsequent search by CNB officers of one of the men’s cars, an assortment of controlled drugs were also found, it said.

In a follow-up operation by CNB the next day, a 24-year-old woman and a 40-year-old man, both Singaporean citizens, were also arrested.