JOHOR BARU: Two men who had been using a prepaid reload shop as a front for their drug trafficking activities have been arrested, and drugs and vehicles worth close to a million ringgit seized.Johor police chief Comm Datuk Kamarul Zaman Mamat said the two were arrested following raids conducted by the State Narcotics Criminal Investigation Department (NCID).
“The two suspects, aged 31 and 34, were arrested at premises in Larkin where they had operated a prepaid reload shop as a front for their illegal activities.
“The shop was used as a store to distribute the drugs for the local market,” he said here yesterday.
He added that the police had confiscated 1.7kg of ecstasy pills, 1.3kg of ecstasy powder, 1.1kg of ketamine and 7kg of Erimin 5 pills.
“All of the drugs are worth RM746,890.
“We have also confiscated three vehicles, cash worth RM37,900 and S$5,300 (RM16,340),” he said, adding that the total confiscated drugs and items are worth RM928,130.
Comm Kamarul Zaman said the two suspects are currently under remand until March 9.
Checks on the two suspects revealed that both have prior criminal records involving drugs.
“These two suspects acted as the distributors for the syndicate, and we are currently on the hunt for another two members who are still at large,” he said, adding that the group had been active since November last year.
The case is being investigated under Section 39B of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952.
Meanwhile, in an unrelated matter, Comm Kamarul Zaman added that the police had recorded more than RM120mil in losses by 579 victims to scams in the state from January until March 5 this year.
He said that a total of 631 police reports had also been received, compared to 550 police reports last year in the same period.
He added that the highest recorded cases are from Macau scam activities, with recorded losses of RM5.1mil this year, compared to RM1.7mil last year.
“These are the types of scams where scammers impersonate police, Customs officers, LHDN officers, and others to trick people into giving them money.
“We also have cases of online purchase scams where victims fall for items that are sold cheaper than the usual market price through social media,” he said, adding that members of the public should not entertain any unknown callers.
“There are also cases of fake jobs where victims are offered the opportunity to become sales agents for a company where they are given the promise of a high commission rate for every item they sell.
“However, they are required to make payment first.
“For example, if they pay RM80, within five minutes the scammers will pay back RM100, and back and forth until the victims are willing to pay thousands, then the scammers will run off with the money,” he said.