PRESENT POINT POWER

ABOVE: Narcotics Criminal Investigation Department Director at Bukit Aman, Datuk Abang Abdul Wahab Abang Julai and BELOW: his team dadah buster

April 09, 2007 17:39 PM

Police Arrest 32, Seize RM14 Mln Drugs, RM5.8 Mln Cash, Luxury Cars

KUALA LUMPUR, April 9 (Bernama) -- Police arrested 32 people, among them several chemists, and seized RM14 million worth of drugs, RM5.8 million in cash and several luxury cars valued at more than RM1 million when they busted a drug trafficking syndicate operating in Selangor and Johor last Saturday, it was revealed Monday.

Narcotics Criminal Investigation Department Director at Bukit Aman, Datuk Abang Abdul Wahab Abang Julai, said the syndicate, regarded by police as big, was suspected to have been active in the Klang Valley, Johor and Kedah, and the drugs produced were of fine quality, he said. "This syndicate had a wide international network and the drugs it processed were for the Southeast Asian market," he said. He said the police found two drug processing laboratories during their raids and seized 80.6 kg of syabu.

ABOVE & BELOW: the RM5.8 Million confiscated, in Singapore, US and China Currencies

Police also seized RM3,650,100, apart from S$327,000, US$220,000 and 300 yuan, and cash cheques for RM391,350 as well as bank accounts of RM338,383. They also seized eight luxury cars. Abang Abdul Wahab said those arrested were aged between 20 and 63 years, and they included nine Indonesians. He said some of them were people who had garnered experience as chemists overseas. "We have yet to arrest the mastermind of the syndicate, and believe remnants of the gang are still at large," he said. Abang Abdul Wahab said the successful raids were the result of information given by the public and due to police surveillance.

ABOVE: The equipments and the drums of chemicals used to process the substance and BELOW: the hot stove & the gas

He said the first raid was conducted on a house in Klang, Selangor, where 16 people, one of them a woman, was arrested and 67.48 kg of syabu in crystal form valued at RM12 million were seized. In follow-up raids, three men were held in Taman Mesra, Klang, and 1.13 kg of drugs valued at RM205,000 were seized. In a raid at Kulai, Johor, a man was detained along with 12 kg of syabu valued at RM2 million. Following the man's arrest, Johor and Selangor police conducted a joint operation in Johor and arrested 12 people.

ABOVE & BELOW: Some of the luxury cars taken away after raids

"Several barrels containing a dangerous chemical were seized, along with equipment to produce syabu," Abang Abdul Wahab said. He said the syndicate used interior areas such as oil palm estates and houses in sparsely populated new housing estates to prevent detection of their activity.

ABOVE & BELOW: the newly constructed house rented by the syndicate for the processing of drugs

Such isolated areas could also prevent the odour emitted during the processing of drugs from causing any suspicion, he added. Abang Abdul Wahab praised the police officers and men who conducted the operations for their persistence that led to the busting of a syndicate trafficking syabu.

= = ==Tuesday April 10, 2007; STAR

123kg of syabu seized, RM5.8mil cash recovered; By KULDEEP S. JESSY

KUALA LUMPUR: Barely 24 hours after police struck at what they believed was the country’s biggest syabu laboratory in Johor, they uncovered the “mother of all drug-processing centres” – a nondescript double-storey house in Taman Botanical, Klang.

When the place was raided at about midnight on Sunday, several chemists believed to be members of the syndicate, were busy processing “ice”, the street name for syabu. Federal Narcotics Crime Investigations Department director Comm Datuk Abang Abdul Wahap Abang Julai showing the cash and equipment seized during the raid. / The StarPolice seized 123kg of liquid syabu which could produce 67kg of the drug in crystal form, valued at more than RM12mil, and recovered a whopping RM5.825mil in cash in various currencies.

They also arrested 16 people, including a woman, and impounded six vehicles including two Toyota Camrys, a Mercedes Benz, a Mitsubishi Storm, a BMW 320i and an Opel Vectra used by the syndicate members. “This is by far the largest-ever syabu processing laboratory that we have busted so far. We believe that this racket has dealings with the one raided in Johor and is linked to various international drug syndicates based on the recovery of the cash in various currencies,” said Federal Narcotics Crime Investigations Department Director Comm Datuk Abang Abdul Wahap Abang Julai. The cash recovered were RM3.6mil, Singapore $327,000 (RM745,176), US$220,000 (RM759,132) and 300 yuan (RM134). There was also RM338,383 in a local bank savings account and a cash cheque for RM391,350.

In a follow-up operation, police detained three people in Taman Mesra, Klang, from whom another 1.139kg of syabu with a street value of RM205,000 was seized. The success came in the wake of Saturday’s joint operation involving police from Penang, Negri Sembilan and Kuala Lumpur. The team raided an oil palm estate in Kulai, Johor, where they recovered 12kg of syabu worth RM2mil from a concealed syabu processing laboratory. Thirteen were arrested. Comm Abang Abdul Wahap said all the suspects had been remanded. He said investigations showed that several of the 32 suspects detained in the Klang and Johor raids had previous criminal records, and nine of them were Indonesians. “The syndicate carried out its activities in remote areas such as plantations and new housing estates that were not fully occupied.

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Penang Malaysia

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