KOTA BARU, Oct 23 — Thirty students have been arrested in Kelantan for various drug offences from January to October this year said Kelantan Police chief Datuk Muhamad Zaki Harun.

According to Muhamad Zaki, the students were detained under Section 15(1)(a) of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952 and Section 12/2 ADB 1952.

"Those arrested or detained were below the age of 17, and their background check revealed that they come from troubled families or broken families as well as failure to get attention.

"We believe drug trafficking syndicates targeted students as these group can be easily coaxed into drugs as they found solace in drugs due to the status of their families. They are also attracted by the lavish lifestyle led by drug traffickers and they start drug pedalling on a small scale,” he told reporters at the Kelantan police headquarters, here today.

He added that most of the students detained were involved in methaphetamine pill consumption that they had obtained at nearby schools bordering Tumpat and areas where social problems are high in Kelantan.

Meanwhile, under Ops Tapis carried out by the Kelantan Narcotics Crime Investigation Department from October 18 to 22, 254 individuals were detained for various offences related to drugs.

"Those detained were aged between 16 and 64, while drugs seized were worth more than RM660,000 and property seized amounted to RM115,000.00.

"In the latest case on Saturday, police detained two suspects believed to be drug traffickers at Jalan Sultan Yahya Petra and seized 54,000 yaba pills worth RM594,000 and believed for distribution in Kota Baru,” he said.

Both suspects would be remanded for seven days (October 22 to 28) to assist investigations under Section 39B of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952, he said. — Bernama