Wheelchair-bound drug lord arrested in Johor

JOHOR BARU: He may be wheelchair-bound and paralysed from the waist down, but this has not stopped a man in his 30s from being a stone-cold drug lord whose empire has tentacles throughout Johor.

The man hails from a family notorious for drug trafficking and firearms possession, with some of its members having been killed in police shootouts.

He inherited the family business after his elder brother, who is in his 50s, was caught three years ago and is currently serving prison time for drug trafficking.

Bukit Aman sources said the mastermind was still able to run the business despite being being paralysed due to an accident some time ago.

He was among nine people arrested in a recent raid that netted drugs worth RM230,000 and several firearms.

“We believe that this family could have more firearms and could have been renting out the firearms to hired killers nationwide,” the sources said.

Police are on the lookout for more firearms and expect more gang members to be picked up.

On Sept 19, Johor police chief Comm Datuk Kamarul Zaman Mamat said that nine people were arrested during a series of raids where drugs worth RM230,000 and firearms were seized.

He said state police and personnel from Bukit Aman conducted four raids between 2am and 9.30am on Sept 19 in Johor Baru, Seri Alam and Kota Tinggi.

“We arrested six men and three women, aged between 22 and 36,” he said.

Comm Kamarul Zaman said the syndicate rented several properties in those areas and turned them into storage units for drugs that were then sold throughout the state since May this year.

Two of the suspects tested positive for drugs, while further checks found six of them had prior criminal records.

He said police seized 27.5kg of ganja, 1.81kg of heroin, 2.02kg of syabu, 597g of ketamine, 540 Yaba pills and 353 ecstasy pills with a value of RM231,462.

“Besides the drugs, police recovered five pistols and 136 bullets. We have sent the firearms for ballistic tests to see whether they were used in a shooting incident in Mersing four months ago.

“Police also seized 111 cartons of illicit cigarettes besides their belongings, such as a motorcycle, four cars, six pieces of jewellery and cash worth RM126,000,” said Comm Kamarul Zaman.

All the suspects have been remanded for six days.