Penang police chief Azizee Ismail said the operation, conducted from 4pm on Monday to 9am yesterday, led to the arrest of three people, including a foreign woman, and the seizure of various drugs.

He said the operation followed intelligence gathering that uncovered a house being used as a drug processing laboratory for MDMA.

“In the first raid, we arrested a man in a parking area at Lebuh Macallum before he led us to a residence used by the syndicate as a drug processing laboratory.

“During the search of the house, we seized 22kg of MDMA, 133g of ketamine, 38g of cannabis, 294 ecstasy pills, 40 Erimin 5 pills and various drug-processing equipment,” Bernama reported him as saying.

Follow-up raids at separate locations resulted in the arrest of another man and a foreign woman, both believed to be accomplices of the syndicate.

Azizee said initial investigation found that the syndicate had been active since October last year, focusing on the local market.

The seized drugs are estimated to be sufficient for use by nearly 50,000 users.

Two of the suspects tested positive for methamphetamine and amphetamine and they have records for drug-related offences.

Police also seized three vehicles, jewellery and cash totalling nearly RM35,000.

All the suspects, aged between 33 and 48, have been remanded until April 6 to assist in the investigation under Section 39B of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952 for drug trafficking.

Meanwhile, the southeast brigade General Operations Force seized 114kg of syabu worth RM5.7 million near Sungai Peng, Pengkalan Chepa, near Kota Bharu, under Ops Taring Wawasan Kelantan on Sunday.

Brigade commander Ahmad Radzi Hussain said the seizure was made at about 12.30am by a team from Battalion 9 after discovering an abandoned blue boat in a bushy area.

“Inspection found several white sacks containing crystal lumps believed to be syabu weighing about 114kg. The motorboat, believed to have been used in the activity, was also seized,” he said.