JOHOR BARU: Police have arrested four locals, including a 75-year-old woman, in a special operation involving the seizure of over RM4mil worth of drugs in Pontian.
Johor police chief Comm M. Kumar said the syndicate, believed to have been active since February, has been trying to hide from the authorities by using stilt houses built above water as their base.
"The suspects, three local men between 40 and 59 years old and an elderly woman, were arrested in two water stilt houses located next to each other during the operation on Saturday (May 4).
"One of the male suspects and the 75-year-old woman are siblings. The brother and sister are also the owners of one of the houses, which is believed to be their family home.
"The stilt houses were used for the operation to camouflage and avoid suspicion.
"We believe this is a new way for syndicates to hide from detection as they typically use houses in gated-and-guarded areas or apartments as their bases instead," he said in a press conference here on Friday (May 10).
Comm Kumar said apart from processing drugs, the syndicate also buy drugs from other suppliers and repackages them to be sold for the local market.
"We believe that there are other syndicate members who are still at large, and we are working with Bukit Aman to track them down," he said.
He said that the three male suspects also tested positive for methamphetamine and have criminal records.
"We have seized some RM4.32mil worth of drugs, including ecstasy powder and pills, Erimin 5 pills, ketamine and cannabis.
"Also seized were items used to process the drugs, cash worth RM21,000 and SGD13,000 (RM45,519) and six cars worth RM495,000," he said, adding that the items and drugs seized amount to RM4.88mil.
