The Star Malaysia

Chemist who is among three suspects nabbed in RM72.5 mil drug bust charged.

46-year-old man nabbed in RM72.5mil drug bust charged

- By LO TERN CHERN andylo@thestar.com.my

BUKIT MERTAJAM: A 46yearold chemist who is among three suspects detained two weeks ago following a RM72.5mil drug bust has been charged in court.

However, no plea was recorded from Lee Wooi Keong after the charge was read to him before magistrate Dianne Ningrad Nor Azahar.

Clad in a yellow Tshirt and shorts, Lee was brought to the courthouse where he was charged with possession of 27.275kg of methamphet­amine in a twounit factory at the small and medium industrial zone in Bukit Tengah here at 3am on Sept 12.

The charge under Section 39B(1) (a) of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952 carries the mandatory death penalty upon conviction.

Lee, who was unrepresen­ted, was denied bail and Dianne set Nov 22 for mention pending the chemist’s report.

The two other suspects have been released on police bail.

It was reported that Bukit Aman Narcotics Criminal Investigat­ion Department raided the factory and scored its largest seizure since the department’s inception 22 years ago.

Among the drugs seized were 2.13 million Erimin 5 pills, and barrels of Erimin 5 powder weighing 742.6kg that could be used to produce 2.47 million more pills.

Police also seized 27.3kg of marijuana and 5,080 ecstasy pills besides 53.7kg of chemicals along with various machinery to produce the capsules and two luxury vehicles.

The operation against the internatio­nal syndicate was conducted in collaborat­ion with Sekretaria­t Nukleus Narkotik, office of the Narcotics Control Board Thailand, Police Narcotics Suppressio­n Bureau Thailand and National Narcotics Control Commission of China.

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 ??  ?? Facing the heat: Lee is accompanie­d by a police officer to the Bukit Mertajam magistrate’s court.
Facing the heat: Lee is accompanie­d by a police officer to the Bukit Mertajam magistrate’s court.

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