Cops Fire Three Shots At Fleeing Car, Nab Drug Suspect

JOHOR BAHRU, Oct 17 (Bernama) -- Police fired three shots at the tyres of a car driven by a suspected drug trafficker in the vicinity of an apartment in Jalan Dato Abdullah Tahir here yesterday.

Johor Police chief Datuk M. Kumar said that in the 6.50 pm incident, they arrested a 27-year-old man and seized 296 grammes (g) of heroin.

"A Patrol Car Unit (MPV) detected the suspect acting suspiciously in his car. The MPV approached the suspect's car and instructed him to stop but the suspect sped off.

"After about five minutes of high-speed chase, the suspect stopped his car in a parking space. We assumed that he was ready to give up, and so our men went to arrest him,” he told reporters after the monthly assembly at the Johor Police Headquarters here today.

Kumar said the suspect then tried to escape again by driving against the traffic and hitting three other vehicles, forcing police to fire three shots to prevent him from continuing to escape.

He said the suspect, who tested positive for Methamphetamine and has 16 prior criminal records, has been remanded for seven days until Oct 23.

The case, he added, is being investigated under Sections 186 and 307 of the Penal Code, Sections 39B and 15(1)(a) of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952 and Section 44(1A)(a) of the Road Transport Act 1987.

Earlier, in his speech, Kumar said that from January to last month, the Johor Commercial Crime Investigation Department busted 18 call centre syndicates carrying out activities in investment fraud, non-existent job offers, non-existent loan offers and phone scams.

"During that period, police arrested 156 suspects, both locals and foreigners, with 19 investigation papers opened and seven of them have already been charged in court,” he said.

Kumar said that during the same period, the crime index from the Johor Criminal Investigation Department (CID) showed a 5.61 per cent increase, with 4,027 cases compared with 3,813 cases during the corresponding period in 2023.

However, he said the increase in the crime index is under control and the Johor CID had solved 62.63 per cent of the cases investigated.

-- BERNAMA