Police Smash Syndicate Trafficking Drug-Laced Vape Cartridges Abroad

KUALA LUMPUR, July 10 (Bernama) -- Police have busted a syndicate believed to be trafficking vape cartridges suspected of containing drug-laced liquid to a neighbouring country, with the arrest of eight foreign nationals and the seizure of drugs worth RM152,400.

Bukit Aman Narcotics Criminal Investigation Department (NCID) director Datuk Hussein Omar Khan today said the suspects were arrested and the drugs seized during two raids under Op Pijat in Meru and Kajang, Selangor, on July 1. 

He said the syndicate was believed to have sourced the drugs in Malaysia before processing and repackaging them for shipment to Indonesia.

"The syndicate, believed to have been active since February, used village houses in remote areas as locations to process and package the drugs before shipping them by sea using boats to a neighbouring country," he told a press conference here today.

Police also seized 500 plastic packets containing vape cartridges suspected of containing MDMA, weighing an estimated five kilogrammes, as well as eight small plastic bottles suspected of containing the same drug-laced liquid.

Hussein said preliminary urine screening tests found that three of the eight suspects tested positive for methamphetamine, while record checks showed that none had any previous criminal record.

He said preliminary investigations also found that the syndicate, believed to have been active since February, had successfully made several shipments to the neighbouring country.

All the suspects, comprising six men and two women aged between 21 and 40, have been remanded for 11 days from July 1 until tomorrow to facilitate investigations.

According to him, the case is being investigated under Section 39B of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952.

-- BERNAMA