GEORGE TOWN: Police have arrested a drug trafficking syndicate mastermind and his 11 accomplices and seized 50 rounds of Luger 9mm bullets in raids in Penang and the Klang Valley.

       Drugs with a market value of RM671,096, cash in various currencies, jewellery and a branded watch worth a total of RM48,730 were also seized.

       Penang deputy police chief Deputy Comm Datuk Fisol Salleh said two foreigners, including a woman, were picked up in the state while the rest were arrested in the Klang Valley.

       He said the foreign man, 56, was detained at a house in Bukit Tengah on the mainland during the 10pm raid on Sunday.

       “Police found 18.58kg of syabu worth RM668,772, 12g of Erimin 5 pills worth RM690, several barrels containing 56 litres of chemicals and a weighing scale believed to have been used for drug processing and packaging.

       “In less than an hour later, a 31-year-old foreign woman was arrested at a condominium in Gelugor on Penang island. Police seized 45.4g of syabu worth RM1,634 there,” he added at the state police contingent headquarters yesterday.

       DCP Fisol said the mastermind was arrested in the Klang Valley together with nine others, including three women. All are aged between 27 and 65.

       “We believe the suspects in Penang have been operating since August last year by obtaining their supplies from the Klang Valley.

       “Checks found that the foreign man’s passport expired in 2017 while the woman’s travel document is still valid,” he said.