KOTA KINABALU: Sabah police have made their biggest-ever drug bust after seizing 303.155kg of syabu with a street value of nearly RM11mil, along with the arrest of a local man in Tawau.
Sabah Police Commissioner Datuk Idris Abdullah said the 49-year-old businessman was arrested by Tawau district anti-narcotics and marine policemen after a car chase in the Mambuala area at around 7.30pm on Monday (Sept 6).
He said that they discovered the drugs, believed to be syabu, inside 290 plastic bags in the back seat and cargo bed of the suspect's pickup truck.
In a press conference in Tawau on Thursday (Sept 9), Idris said that police also seized RM5,000 in cash from the suspect, another RM22,000 in cash at his house and froze his bank account containing RM95,284.
The police suspect that the drugs were brought in from outside the country via a sea route.
"We are now trying to establish how the drugs were brought into the state and whether it was in transit," he said, adding that this was one of the biggest drug bust ever made by Sabah police.
He said leading up to the arrests, a team from the Tawau anti-narcotics and marine police set up a road block at Mile 10 in Mambula, Tawau in a joint operation following a public tip-off.
He said that they attempted to stop the suspect's car for checks but he sped off.
Police managed to intercept and arrest him at Kampung Batu Payung, where they found the drugs.
"We believe that the drugs could be in transit to another country es and is enough for 1.5 million addicts," Idris added.