Sarawak police seize 191kg of drugs worth RM17.2 million

KUCHING: More than 191kg of drugs worth an estimated RM17.2 million has been seized by police in two separate raids in Kuching and Limbang over the past week.

Sarawak Police Commissioner cum Director of the Management Department of the Royal Malaysia Police (RMP), Datuk Mohamad Zainal Abdullah, said two local men were arrested during the raids and are currently being remanded.

He added that the raids were conducted by the Sarawak and Bukit Aman Narcotics Criminal Investigation Departments (NCID).

“In the first operations on September 11, the team seized 107.518kg of drugs worth RM12.89 million from a rented Airbnb house in Kuching.

“The seizure comprised about 50.1kg of MDMA powder, 32.3kg of ketamine, 25kg of liquid MDMA and 0.118kg of Erimin 5 pills.

“A 39-year-old local man was arrested during the raid and subsequently tested positive for methamphetamine,” he said during a press conference at Sarawak Police Contingent headquarters this afternoon.

He said the suspect had five previous criminal records, including one drug-related offence and four other criminal offences.

He remains in remand until September 19 to facilitate further investigation.

Furthermore, Zainal noted that the premises is not a lab for producing drug but for distribution of drugs.

“The suspect is a distributor. He rented an Airbnb home and it is for the packaging, which is in a juice packaging, and then to be distributed throughout Kuching,” he said.

In the second operations on September 14, police arrested a 23-year-old local man at Jalan Mendamit, Limbang, and seized 84.07kg of drugs estimated to be worth RM4.3 million.

“The drugs comprised 81.21kg of methamphetamine, 2.06kg of ketamine and 0.8kg of MDMA powder.

“The team also seized a four-wheel-drive vehicle worth about RM35,000 during the operations,” he said.

The suspect, who has no previous criminal record, was remanded from September 15 to September 22.

Both cases are being investigated under Section 39B of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952.

Zainal said the total drugs seized in the two operations could have been used by or affected an estimated 484,848 people if distributed and abused.

The department also urged members of the public to continue providing information on drug trafficking activities to enable police to take further action against those involved.

The Commissioner also stated that investigations into both cases are ongoing, with the police expected to refer the investigation papers to the Deputy Public Prosecutor’s Office upon completion.