Bukit Aman narcotics crime investigation department director Hussein Omar Khan said the suspects – four men and a woman aged between 23 and 37 – were believed to be members of a drug trafficking syndicate that had been active for several years.
Hussein said police arrested the married couple and a male suspect as they were travelling in two cars along the main road in Wang Kelian during the first raid on March 24.
“Further inspection of the car driven by one of the male suspects led police to seize 20 sacks containing 500 plastic packets filled with substances suspected to be methamphetamine,” he said in a press conference at the Perlis police contingent headquarters here today.
He said police were forced to fire several shots at one of the vehicles as the driver’s actions posed a threat to the raiding officers and risked causing casualties.
Hussein said the arrest of the three individuals led to the capture of two other male suspects in two separate raids around Wang Kelian on March 27 and 28.
“Preliminary urine screening found the four male suspects positive for methamphetamine, while checks on criminal records showed that all five suspects have prior offences involving drugs,” he said.
He said they were all remanded for between five and seven days from March 25 and yesterday. The case is being investigated under Section 39B of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952.
Action is also being taken under the Dangerous Drugs (Forfeiture of Property) Act 1988, with total seizures amounting to RM566,200 comprising six vehicles, including pickup trucks, and eight motorcycles.
Hussein said the syndicate was one of the drug trafficking groups under police watch and was believed to be experienced in smuggling drugs via the border route.
“This syndicate was one of the active groups operating in Perlis, believed to be smuggling drugs through forested areas in Wang Kelian using human couriers.
“The drugs were brought to a transit point near the main road in Wang Kelian to be collected by those arrested before being sent to other transit points. The supply was believed to be for the local market, the Klang Valley and the southern region,” he said.
He said the seized drugs could have harmed up to 2.55 million users if they had reached the market.
The syndicate leader, a local man in his 40s, is believed to have fled to Thailand. Hussein said police would seek assistance from the authorities there to track him down.