KOTA KINABALU: Police made the biggest drug bust in Sabah’s east coast district of Semporna after seizing over 20kg of syabu worth almost RM1mil.
The drug syndicate was crippled with the arrest of three men, including a foreigner, during a raid at the Semporna jetty on Jan 3.
The suspects, aged between 36 and 38, were detained on a wooden boat with the drugs, meant to be sold in a neighbouring country.
“This is the biggest drug bust in Semporna so far,” said district police chief Supt Mohd Farhan Lee Abdullah during a press conference yesterday.
He said a team, comprising officers and personnel from the Bum-Bum police station and Semporna anti-narcotics department, was sent to the location at 6.30am following a tip-off from the public.
The police then spotted the wooden boat near the shore next to the jetty, with the men behaving in a suspicious manner.
“We noticed that one of the men was holding two suitcases.
“Our men then swooped in onto the boat.
“This prompted the suspects to try and disperse but we managed to arrest them,” Supt Mohd Farhan said.
A further check on the baggage found that they had 20 plastic bags containing what may be syabu. “The drugs weighed 20,227.4g and are worth almost RM1mil. This supply of drugs could cater to some 5,000 users,” he said.
