Cops seeking further intelligence on duo who escaped drug bust — Fisol
KUCHING: Police will seek to obtain further intelligence on two men who managed to escape during a drug bust in Serian over the past weekend, to determine if they are still in the state or not, said Sarawak Deputy Police Commissioner Datuk Fisol Salleh.
“For now, we cannot say if they managed to cross the border into Indonesia or if they are still here.
“Thus, we are referring to Bukit Aman and their counterparts in Indonesia to help us find a link to these two men who managed to get away,” he told a press conference at the Sarawak Contingent Police headquarters here yesterday.
He was commenting on the incident where General Operations Force (GOF) personnel conducting an ‘Ops Benteng’ patrol in Sungai Paoh, Serian on Sunday a ernoon came across a suspicious-looking vehicle heading towards the Indonesian border.
Three men bolted from the vehicle into a nearby bush upon realising the presence of the GOF men, but the security personnel managed to apprehend one of them.
A subsequent inspection of the vehicle found a backpack in the rear seat which was found to contain seven sealed packages of methamphetamine and Ecstasy pills worth more than RM500,000.
According to Fisol, police believe the seized drugs were destined for Kalimantan due to the high demand there for narcotics such as methamphetamine and Ecstasy, adding it was likely the work of a syndicate.
“The price of these drugs in Sarawak is RM40,000 to RM50,000 per kilogramme, and we have information that the price (for these drugs) over in Indonesia is double.
“We believe that the syndicate’s modus operandi is to supply drugs from Malaysia to Indonesia through illegal pathways at the border, and they would use rented vehicles to reach the border before crossing over on foot,” he said.
He added that police would double down on their efforts to strengthen border security between Sarawak and Indonesia as drug smuggling was one of the threats faced by the state, aside from illegal immigrants.