TAWAU: A Filipino was arrested with 3.09kg of syabu worth RM180,000 and drug packaging equipment at Kg Kurnia, Mile 4, Jalan Apas, last Monday.
District Police Chief ACP Jasmin Hussin said the 42-year-old is believed to have been involved in packing the drug for sale in the local market.
“He was alone at home and tried to escape,” he said at IPD Tawau on Wednesday.
A green plastic bag with “Guanyinwang” written on it and three transparent plastic packages containing drugs were seized. Police also found equipment believed used for drug distribution.
The suspect was tested positive for Syabu and was remanded until Oct 17 for further investigation under Section 39B (1)(a) of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952, which carries either the death penalty or life in prison and minimum15 strokes of the cane.
Jasmin said Tawau police are focusing on detecting large-scale cases involving syndicates. He believes that various syndicates supply drugs to specific distributors before the drugs are packaged for the local market.
“Initial police investigations suggest that drugs were brought in on a large scale and distributed to respective dealers within the suspect’s group before being further distributed,” he said.
Jasmin’s team believes that this situation is linked to a series of previous drug arrests, where attempts were made to smuggle drugs to neighbouring countries from Tawau.
To date, Jasmin’s team has opened 19 investigation cases, resulting in 30 arrests and seizure of nearly early 35kg of drugs.
