THE Customs Department foiled an attempt to traffic 28kg of methamphetamine estimated to be worth RM1 million following a raid in Puchong, Selangor on September 13.

Its director-general Abdul Latif Abdul Kadir said that in the 6pm incident, a team from its Narcotics Branch detained a Proton Saga, with two men in it, at a parking lot in front of a hotel.

He said that during the inspection, the driver sped off and collided with the vehicle of a Customs officer in Jalan Bandar, Puchong before fleeing on foot.

“However, officers managed to arrest one of the men, a 31-year-old Indonesian, who was hiding in a shop while his accomplice escaped.

“Upon inspecting the abandoned car, we found green tea packets inside two satchels containing compressed lumps of crystal clear methamphetamine. The car is suspected to have been stolen,” he told a press conference at the department’s narcotics branch in Kg Jijan, Nilai today.

Latif said the syndicate’s modus operandi was to hide drugs in bags kept in the boot of vehicles, apart from using stolen vehicles with fake registration numbers and always changing their vehicles to avoid detection.

He said investigations also found that the drugs were meant to be sent to Indonesia by sea.

Following the incident, he said police then arrested four men aged between 27 and 31, including the one who fled during the first raid, at separate locations on Monday.

“Two were arrested in Gua Musang, Kelantan, one in Klang, Selangor and another while he was giving a statement at the narcotics branch here. A urine test was carried out and all of them tested positive for methamphetamine,” he said.

He added that the first Indonesian suspect was remanded for 14 days from September 14 under Sections 39B(1)(a) and 15(1)(a) of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952 while a remand application was made against the other four suspects to assist in investigations.

In a separate development, he said the department seized 16,000kg of amphetamine worth RM5.2 billion, 624kg of methamphetamine (RM22.5 million), 2.6kg of ketamine (RM124,160) and 3.9kg of heroin (RM337,569) since January.

He also said that, so far, a total of 14 suspects had been detained and seven brought to court for trial. – Bernama, September 23, 2021.