Tawau police with the seized syabu.
KOTA KINABALU: A drug dealer tried to escape arrest by driving into oncoming traffic during a high-speed chase with the police in Sabah’s east coast Tawau district.
It turns out the 30-year-old local suspect panicked because he was carrying over 2kg of syabu when he approached a police roadblock at Jalan Timur, Sin Onn at about noon on Wednesday (Sept 6).
Tawau police chief Asst Comm Jasmin Hussin said the man suddenly turned his car around before reaching the roadblock, prompting the policemen on duty to give chase.
He said the suspect did not get far as police managed to intercept him after a short time.
“After checking his car, we found six plastic packets including two Chinese tea packets, in all containing some 2,162.40g of syabu,” he told a press conference on Friday (Sept 8).
“Further checking found that the suspect was jobless and had one previous criminal conviction involving drugs in 2016,” he added.
ACP Jasmin said the seized syabu was estimated to be worth some RM120,000 and the suspect has been remanded for seven days from Thursday (Sept 7) for investigations under Section 39B of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952.
“We believe the drugs were meant to be sold in Tawau and nearby areas,” he said, adding that police were actively tracking the syndicate involved.
As such, he urged the public to work with the authorities to weed out the drug menace in the district.
