SHAH ALAM, July 1 — The party is over for entertainment spots peddling ecstasy-laced juice as police busted two laboratories through six separate raids in Ampang, Selangor, and Pandan Perdana, Kuala Lumpur, on June 26, involving the seizure of drugs worth RM5.03 million.
Selangor police chief Datuk Hussein Omar Khan said the police also arrested 13 suspects, comprising eight local men, four male foreign nationals, and one foreign woman, all aged between 20 and 40.
"All those arrested were involved in a syndicate believed to have been active since December last year, with one of them acting as a coordinator while the others were chemists, assistant chemists and runners, with salaries ranging from RM3,000 to RM25,000 a month," he said during the Selangor Narcotics Criminal Investigation Department's press conference at the Selangor police contingent headquarters today.
Hussein added that the syndicate's elaborate modus operandi was to use the terrace houses raided in Ampang and Pandan Perdana as bases to process MDMA (methylenedioxymethamphetamine) drugs, commonly called Ecstasy, to be added to juice drinks and stored in cars before distributing them to the local market.
"Four other raids were carried out in the parking lots of a shopping centre and condominium, which involved the seizure of a total of 1,510 boxes and 728 bottles of juice drinks suspected of containing MDMA liquid, weighing 689.42 kg.
"In addition, also seized were MDMA powder (1.68 kg), ketamine (25.4 kg), ecstasy pills (5.3 kg) and Erimin 5 pills (0.726 kg)," he said.
Urine screening tests found nine of the 13 suspects positive for ketamine, meth and benzo, while the rest were negative, in addition to a check of criminal records where two suspects had cases under the Open Gambling Houses Act 1953 and Immigration Act 1959.
"We also confiscated various properties and items such as eight cars, a motorcycle, cash, and jewellery with a total value of RM826,222," Hussein said.
All the suspects were remanded from tomorrow until Thursday (July 3), with the case being investigated under Section 39B of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952.
— Bernama
