GEORGE TOWN: A married couple were among three people arrested during the seizure of syabu and 23 slabs of ganja worth more than RM60,000 in Ayer Itam on Sunday.

       The three were picked up in different raids by the district Narcotics Criminal Investigation Department (NCID) at 9pm that day.

       George Town OCPD Asst Comm Soffian Santong said police first raided a rented house and detained two men, both 38, after finding four slabs of ganja with them. Another slab of ganja was found in the house.

       He told a press conference at the George Town police headquarters here yesterday that police then found 18 more slabs of ganja inside a car parked near the house.

       ACP Soffian said police arrested a woman in her 40s, believed to be the wife of one of the male suspects, at another house in the same area.

       The house where police found the ganja and several packets of drugs believed to be syabu, is believed to be owned by the married couple.

       "We believe the house was used as a centre to run their drug-related activities," he said.

       He added that during the raids, police seized the ganja, a clear plastic packet and two glass bottles containing dried leaves believed to be ganja weighing a total 22.3kg and worth RM55,697.

       Another six clear plastic packets containing drugs believed to be syabu weighing 61.5gm, worth about RM6,150 were also seized.

       Police also confiscated tools for smoking ganja and packing drugs, as well as digital weighing scales.

       "The drugs seized could be used by 44,558 drug addicts if it had reached the market," ACP Soffian said, adding that a car and two motorcycles worth a total RM88,000 were also confiscated.

       He said police are looking for another suspect, believed to be related to the couple. He is believed to have rented the house that was first raided.

       The two men, both of whom have previous records for drug offences, tested positive but not the woman.

       All three suspects have been remanded until Friday under Section 39B of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952.

       In a separate development, ACP Soffian said 49 compound notices worth a total RM49,000 were issued to those who had violated Covid-19 standard operating procedures in January.

       He added that in January a total of 524 SOP compliance operations were conducted by police in George Town, some in collaboration with other enforcement agencies.