Kuala lumpur: Police busted a drug trafficking syndicate operating in the Klang Valley with the arrest of three men and seizure of 145.68 kilogrammes (kg) of syabu worth RM4.66 million in an operation on Thursday.

According to BERNAMA News Agency, Kuala Lumpur acting police chief Datuk Mohamed Usuf Jan Mohamad said two Malaysians, aged 32 and 61, and a 34-year-old Indonesian were arrested at a shopping centre in Jalan Kuchai Lama at 5.40 pm. He added that upon inspecting a car belonging to one of the suspects, police found 10.34kg of syabu hidden in a cloth bag in the boot of the car.

Further investigation led to police raiding a double-storey house in Puncak Jalil, where they seized 135.34kg of syabu packed in 122 plastic packets. The overall total of drugs seized from the operation is 145.68kg, which is believed to be enough to supply around 728,400 addicts, and its market value is estimated at RM4.66 million, he told a media conference.

Investigations found that the syndicate has been using the double-storey house in Puncak Jalil, which it has rented since last October for RM2,000 a month, to store drugs before distributing them to the local and Indonesian markets. He added that the syndicate is believed to have been active since May and obtained its supply from overseas, while the two Malaysians arrested are suspected to be the syndicate leader and the courier.

Further investigations are underway to identify the full extent of the syndicate’s network, including the role of the detained Indonesian man, he said. He also mentioned that two of the suspects tested positive for drugs, while a background check found that one of them is wanted by police for a prior drug-related offence.

All three suspects have been remanded for seven days until July 31 and the case is being investigated under Section 39B of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952.