GEORGE TOWN: Police busted a local drug syndicate here after three people, including a former police corporal, were arrested and 451kg of ganja worth RM1.13mil seized, says Comm Datuk Mohd Shuhaily Mohd Zain.
The state police chief said the suspects were detained during a police special operation conducted between Jan 13 and Jan 14 at Penaga, in north Seberang Prai, after gathering information on the drug trafficking activities.
"In the first raid at 7.30pm on Jan 13, police arrested the 33-year-old former police personnel in front of a house in Jalan Bendahara, Penaga, and seized 10 compressed blocks wrapped in gold paper containing dried leaves believed to be ganja weighing about 10.16kg and worth about RM25,000," he said during a press conference at the state police headquarters on Monday (Jan 16).
Comm Mohd Shuhaily said following the arrest,police raided a house in the same road where they stumbled upon 443 compressed blocks wrapped in gold paper containing dried leaves believed to be ganja weighing about 441.7kg and worth about RM1.105mil.
He said police also arrested a 33-year-old woman who was the wife of the first suspect in the house at 8.10pm on the same day.
He said in the last raid, police detained a 42-year-old man believed to be the head of the syndicate at about 9.30pm in the same area.
Comm Mohd Shuhaily said investigations found the syndicate has been active since early last year and the ganja was meant for local distribution.
"The syndicate used the house to store the drugs and we believed they have been active since early 2022," he said, adding that the confiscated drugs can be abused by 906,470 drug addicts.
On the former police corporal, Comm Mohd Shuhaily said the suspect's last posting was at Marang, Terengganu and he had been dismissed from the force due to a drug offence.
He said one of the suspects tested positive for methamphetamine while the other two tested negative for drugs.
He added that three cars worth RM345,000, two motorcycles valued at RM34,500 and RM37,000 in cash were seized during the operation.
"The suspects have been remanded for seven days until Jan 20 to facilitate investigations," he said.
The case is being investigated under Section 39B of the Dangerous Drug Act 1952.
