JOHOR BARU, Oct 11 — Police confiscated nearly 20kg of crystal methamphetamine valued at over RM650,000 and concealed in 18 packages of Chinese tea in a mangrove swamp in Parit Jawa, Muar last week.
However, there were no arrests in last Friday’s operation conducted by investigators from the Muar district Narcotics Criminal Investigation Department (NCID) with the assistance of the Region 2 Marine Police Force.
Johor police chief Datuk Kamarul Zaman Mamat said the seizure on October 6 was based on information obtained from intelligence gathering.
“After receiving the information, police conducted a monitoring operation from 1pm to 3pm in the area, where the illicit narcotics were later confiscated as it was left unattended for about two hours.
“The 18 packages of syabu (crystal methamphetamine) weighing 19,768g had a value of RM652,344.
“We believe that these illicit narcotics were from a drug smuggling syndicate and was meant for sale in a neighbouring country,” said Kamarul Zaman in a press conference at the Johor police contingent headquarters here today.
He said the seized drugs would have been enough for 98,840 doses and investigators were tracking down the suspects involved.
In a related development, Kamarul Zaman said the Johor NCID arrested a total of 13,341 suspects for various drug offences from January 1 to October 9.
He said police managed to seize 4.26 metric tonnes of illicit drugs worth RM32.82 million and forfeited property worth RM11.79 million during the nine-month period.
“The Johor police force hopes that the public will continue to channel information related to illicit drug activities in their respective areas.
“Any information related to illicit drug activities can be channelled through the Johor police hotline at 012-2087222,” he said.
