Kota Kinabalu: Parti Warisan refuted allegations that it benefited or had links to the biggest drug trafficking syndicate in Sabah that was crippled by Bukit Aman police with the arrest of 10 people, including the mastermind, on Tuesday.
It said it would not hesitate to take legal action against those who link the party to illegal activities or syndicates.
Sec-Gen Datuk Loretto Padua said there are irresponsible parties trying to link the case with Warisan, as has been disseminated through WhatsApp.
He welcomed the police’s and Eastern Sabah Security Command’s (Esscom) success in squashing the drug trafficking syndicate in Sabah and that those involved must be investigated and charged.
Our report on December 27, 2023.
“Warisan persistently denied the baseless allegation and deemed it an extreme political defamation to damage the party’s and its leaders’ reputation,” he said in a statement.
On Tuesday, Deputy Inspector-General of Police Datuk Seri Ayob Khan Mydin Pitchay said a drug syndicate leader, with the title “Datu”, was held alongside others in Sabah on suspicion of being involved in the biggest drug trafficking syndicate in the state.
He said all the suspects, aged between 36 and 48, were arrested in a special operation at 2.30am on Dec 25.
Following the announcement, a message went viral on WhatsApp claiming that an individual in the syndicate had ties with Warisan leaders and was involved in giving funds to the party.
Ayob Khan said this was the first time the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012 was being used to foil a drug-smuggling ring, instead of the usual trafficking charge under Section 39B of the Dangerous Drugs Act.
“We have had laws for the past 40 years, since drugs were announced as the country’s top enemy in 1983, but they are ineffective.
“We made numerous arrests but we have not been able to take action against their leaders because the burxden of proof required under Section 39B is high.
“The leaders were not involved directly and their methods kept on changing. So, it was difficult to prove their roles in the organisation,” Ayob Khan said in a media conference.
Therefore, he said, police used Sosma to holistically investigate gangs instead.
The nine other suspects include an enforcement officer, 44, who was suspected of acting as a transporter, and a 45-year-old managing director of a restaurant chain, who is allegedly in charge of the gang’s finances.
The seized assets include a ferry, multiple restaurants, a bungalow, luxury cars, and 12 companies involved in tourism, manufacturing, and oil and gas.
The gang was believed to have been operating for 15 years and smuggled methamphetamine from a neighbouring country.
Ayob Khan said the alleged leader was previously convicted of violating a restriction order under the Dangerous Drugs Act (Special Preventive Measures) 1985.
The others detained were a 38-year-old trader, a 48-year-old personal assistant, a 44-year-old enforcement agency staff member who was the syndicate’s transporter, a drug mule aged 34, a 32-year-old site supervisor, two drug pushers, and a “Tonto”, 48, who monitors the drug activity.
Investigations showed that the syndicate had been active since 2015, said Ayob Khan.
“We believe it is the biggest drug syndicate in Sabah with a local and overseas network. They got their supply of syabu from a neighbouring country before being smuggled into Sabah via flights through drug mules and cargo ships.
“Besides Sabah, they also trafficked drugs in the Philippines and Indonesia,” he added.
The syndicate owns 12 businesses including those in tourism, construction, petrochemical as well as oil and gas, he said.
“It also has a ferry and a chain of restaurants. The syndicate leader became an NGO patron to mask his illegal activities. We also detected various bungalows and luxury vehicles owned by the syndicate,” said Ayob Khan.
