JOHOR BARU: The National Anti-Drugs Agency (Nada) detains 23 individuals at an oil palm estate in Masai for suspected drug abuse.
State health and environment committee chairman Ling Tian Soon said the plantation was a hotspot for drug users, which triggered an operation by the agency and police on Sunday (March 10).
“The man in his 40s, who went to the estate on a motorcycle, saw some of the enforcement officers on duty and claimed that he was on the way to fish, but he had no fishing rod or bait.
“He was hauled up along with 22 others, including a woman and an Indonesian man, for suspected drug use. From Nada’s observation, drug users usually stop by the plantation to get high before proceeding to go to work or return home,” he told reporters after the operations.
Ling said items such as lighters, plastic sachets, straws containing substances believed to be drugs and aluminium foil were found at the scene.
During the operations, another suspect managed to speed away on his motorcycle upon noticing the enforcement officers.
Ling added that all the detained suspects would be hauled to the agency's Johor office for a urine test. If the tests were positive, a remanded order would be obtained from the court for the suspect to be charged.
“Another eight suspected drug users were also detained in a separate door-to-door raid based on public tip-offs.
“Nada Johor will continue conducting such raids as the state government has allocated RM1.13mil to combat drug abuse this year,” he added.
He said 377 people in Johor, aged 18 to 45 years old, have been detained by Nada for suspected drug abuse from January to March 6.
He said that 1,424 individuals were picked up for the same reason last year.
