POLICE arrested 78 individuals, including a foreign peddler nicknamed “doctor”, in a special operation at entertainment centres in the Batu Pahat and Kluang districts early today.

Johor police chief Kamarul Zaman Mamat said the peddler, aged 31, was among eight foreign nationals and 70 locals, ages 16 to 68, arrested between 1am and 3 am.

He said 246 people were rounded up in the raids on three entertainment centres in Batu Pahat and Kluang, two of which were found to be operating without a valid licence.

“Some 68 of them tested positive for tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), methamphetamine and ketamine,” he said, adding that the police also seized 3.43kg of ecstasy, 417g of ketamine, 1,370 ecstasy pills, and 300 Eramin 5 pills, estimated to be worth RM262,000.

Kamarul said police also confiscated a car and RM31,200 cash.

All those arrested will be in remand for between one and six days for investigation under sections 39B, 12(2), and 15(1)(a) of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952; section 15(1)(c) of the Immigration Act 1959/63, and sections 6(2) and 11(2) of the Johor Entertainment and Places of Entertainment Enactment. – Bernama, January 22, 2023.