Sampan drug trafficker busted near illegal jetty
IPOH: Drugs bound for Indonesia worth more than Rm1.7mil have been seized and a 56-year-old Indonesian arrested near an illegal jetty in Rungkup, Bagan Datuk.
Perak police chief Comm Datuk Mior Faridalathrash Wahid said the suspect had two gunny sacks containing what is believed to be syabu weighing 29kg.
He said the man was arrested at 12.55am on Sunday by the roadside close to the illegal jetty in the Bagan Lipas Laut area.
“Initial investigation revealed that the suspect would purchase drugs from a local distributor and ship them in a sampan.
“There would be another ‘pickup’ sampan in the middle of the sea where the drugs would be transferred and brought into Indonesia,” he told a press conference at the Perak police contingent headquarters here yesterday.
Comm Mior Faridalathrash added that this was the first time police in the state had busted such an operation.
The suspect has valid documents to stay in Malaysia and has been in the country for over a year.
“We believe he has been actively exporting drugs for the past three months.
“His urine test came out negative and he has no criminal record either,” he added.
In an unrelated case, seven suspects aged between 18 and 37 were arrested at different locations in Teluk Intan for having syabu, heroin and ganja.
Comm Mior Faridalathrash said on Sept 25 at about 3.35pm, a married couple was arrested at a house in Changkat Jong, where heroin weighing 4,189.36g and syabu weighing 409.85g worth RM150,000 were seized.
“The urine test came back positive for the 37-year-old male suspect, and checks showed that he also has a criminal record for four offences.
“Both have been remanded until Oct 1 and the case is being investigated under Section 39B of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952,” he said.
In a follow-up operation, police carried out three different raids in Teluk Intan and arrested five men and seized syabu and ganja worth about RM640.
“All five tested positive for drugs and four of them have criminal records,” said Comm Mior Faridalathrash.