Two fishermen arrested with syabu worth RM660,000

KEPALA BATAS: Police arrested two fishermen in possession of 20.748 kilogrammes (kg) of syabu worth RM660,000 in a raid at Kuala Bekah, Penaga here on Saturday (Sept 9).

Seberang Perai Utara district police chief ACP Mohd Asri Shafie said, acting on information and intelligence, the police arrested the two men, aged 42 and 50, in a car near the jetty there at 7pm.

“During the arrest, the duo were in a Toyota Harrier and is believed to have just arrived in the area. Upon inspection, police found 20 Chinese tea packages in a bag.

“Further inspection found that the packages contained 20.748 kg of syabu worth RM660,000, which are about to be smuggled to Indonesia via the Kuala Bekah fishing jetty,” he told a press conference on Tuesday (Sept 12).

He said the two men would take the syabu supply from Kuala Lumpur and transport them using a fishing boat before handing them over to a syndicate network in Indonesia upon reaching international waters.

Mohd Asri said the suspects’ modus operandi was to transport the drug supply at night to avoid detection by the authorities. They were paid RM4,000 each for one kg of syabu shipment.

He said the police believe the suspects have ties with domestic and international drug trafficking syndicates, and preliminary investigations found that they have been active since the beginning of the year.

“The two men, who had just arrived at the jetty, were planning to go to international waters to deliver the drug supplies but were arrested by the police. The 42-year-old suspect was recently involved while the other was the mastermind,” he said, adding that both suspects tested positive for drugs.

He said the suspects have been remanded for six days until Sept 15 for further investigation under Section 39B of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952.

“Police also seized a car and a fishing boat worth RM200,000,” he said.- BK