THREE men have been arrested for allegedly attempting to smuggle prohibited items to a rehabilitation centre in Machang using a drone on December 12.

Kelantan police chief Muhamad Zaki Harun said the arrest was made after police received a report about a drone being flown above the centre at 1.05am.

“The centre, which is installed with a tracking device, detected the drone operator in an area near it in Jalan Kuing Indah, Kampung Pangkal Meleret, Machang,” he said in a statement today.

“Three suspects sped off in a car (on seeing the arrival of the authorities) before they were arrested near the Kuala Krai-Kota Baru road in Kampung Bukit Belah, Machang.”

Following a check in the car, Zaki said, the police found five mobile phones, two units of power bank, a machete, firecrackers, a type of dagger known as badik and a roll of double tape.

“We also found a RC123 drone remote control device, 13 packets of tobacco and 41 small compressed packages, believed to contain tobacco,” he said.

Zaki said the suspects, aged between 35 and 39, were charged in a magistrate’s court in Machang on December 19 under section 58(1) of the Prisons Act 1995 and rule 140 of the Malaysian Civil Aviation Regulations 2016 and section 6 of the Corrosive Substances, Explosives and Dangerous Weapons Act 1957.

He said it is an offence to fly a drone without a permit from the Civil Aviation Department. – Bernama, December 29, 2022.