JOHOR BARU: Police have busted a drug trafficking and smuggling syndicate with the arrest of seven suspects including a Malaysian man and his Chinese national wife here.

       Federal Narcotic Crime Investigation Department (NCID) director Comm Datuk Razarudin Husain said police also seized more than RM4mil worth of drugs.

       He said the arrests and seizures were made in a series of raids at four houses around here between Oct 21 and Oct 28.

       He added that those arrested during the raids were aged 39 to 48, and that the syndicate has been active in supplying drugs around Johor since the middle of this year.

       “Police successfully seized 115.1kg of syabu, 528g of ketamine, 52.8g of ecstasy, 91.8g of mushroom, 10.5g of Eramine 5 and 9.17g of Yaba pills worth a total of RM4.2mil,” he said in a press conference at the state police headquarters here on Sunday (Oct 31).

       He said besides the drugs, police also seized a gold chain, five cars, RM6,870 in cash while also freezing 11 bank accounts belonging to the syndicate with the total seizure valued at RM689,601.

       Comm Razarudin said it was believed that the syndicate received their drug supply from a neighbouring country smuggled from northern Malaysia and it would be able to feed some 587,222 addicts.

       “We believe that this syndicate does not only traffic drugs for the local market, but also internationally.

       “The four houses that police raided were used as places to repack the drugs with each package weighing about one kilogramme," he said.

       Comm Razarudin added further investigations on the suspects found that all of them have previous records for drugs and crime, while six of them - including the married couple - tested positive for drugs.

       He also said all of the suspects were remanded until Monday (Nov 1) to help with the investigations under Section 39B of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952.

       On updates about the Malaysian man arrested in Melbourne for smuggling A$140mil (RM432mil) worth of heroin into Australia, Comm Razarudin said police do not rule out the possibility of other individuals in the country involved in the matter.

       He said the case was still being investigated and declined to elaborate as it was a complicated case that requires a thorough investigation to detect other individuals.

       “We are still investigating and there is indeed involvement here, but we cannot reveal it early. We expect it to take one to four months as the various modus operandi is very complex.

       “This is not a case of catching chickens, today we get information, today we also catch them. We can do but we will not be able to nab holistically the entire syndicate involved,” he said, adding that police would give updates including if there were any arrests pertaining to the case.

       It was reported that Australian police seized the largest heroin shipment ever detected in the country, worth an estimated A$140mil (RM432mil), and arrested a Malaysian in the process.

       Australian police said the 450kg shipment – as heavy as a grand piano – was detected in a sea freight container of ceramic tiles sent from Malaysia and addressed to a Melbourne business.

       As a standard practice in Australia, they have not named the man they have arrested.

       The suspect was charged with importing and attempted possession of a commercial quantity of a border-controlled drug.

       Australian police said the maximum penalty for the crime is life imprisonment.