TAIPING, Aug 29 — A food delivery man was arrested on suspicion of distributing drugs during a roadblock at the southbound North-South Highway rest and service (R&R) area near here on Thursday (August 25).

Taiping District Deputy Police chief Supt Razlam Ab Hamid said the 37-year-old, who is married and has two children, was detained by a team of highway patrol personnel at 9am.

"The suspect was driving a Perodua Alza vehicle, which he had borrowed from his niece to carry out the distribution activity on the way from Penang to Selangor.

"Upon inspecting the vehicle, police found a plastic sack containing 18 compressed lumps of dried ganja leaves weighing 18 kilogrammes (kg) worth RM54,000 and they also seized RM2,119 in cash,” he told a media conference at the Taiping District Police Headquarters here today.

Razlam said the suspect was believed to have been paid to distribute drugs since July, where the supplies were obtained in Penang to be supplied to about 10,000 addicts for the local market.

He added that the suspect, who tested negative for drugs and did not have any criminal records, had been remanded for a week since Friday (August 26) to assist in investigations under Section 39B of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952. — Bernama