Police shot dead an alleged drug syndicate leader during a raid on a terrace house in Garden Homes, Seremban 2, yesterday, bringing down a group believed to have been involved in processing drugs for local and international markets.
The 52-year-old man was identified as the alleged head of the syndicate, which had reportedly been operating since the 1990s. Police said he had expertise in processing chemicals used to manufacture drugs.
Bukit Aman’s Narcotics Criminal Investigation Department (JSJN) director Datuk Hussein Omar Khan said the raid was carried out under “Op Thrips”, resulting in the seizure of drugs and other items with a total estimated value of RM27.6 million.
He said the suspect allegedly acted aggressively and fired a shot at the JSJN Bukit Aman raid team.
“In self-defence, the raiding team had to return fire. The suspect was subsequently found unconscious and was pronounced dead at the scene,” Hussein told a press conference here today.
A search of the rented terrace house found that it had been converted into an illegal mini laboratory for processing various forms of MDMA, including liquid, pills and powder, weighing an estimated 182.39kg.
Police also seized a revolver from the premises.
Hussein said the suspect had been using the house as a drug laboratory since January this year. He was believed to have obtained drug precursors from overseas before processing them with chemicals using various equipment, including an oven and mixer, to produce MDMA and methamphetamine.
Following the initial raid, police arrested two other alleged syndicate members in separate operations yesterday.
They were a 32-year-old woman and a 35-year-old man, who were arrested in Seremban 2 and at a residence in Kuchai Lama, Kuala Lumpur, respectively.
Hussein said the syndicate allegedly used low-density residential areas as locations for drug processing and distribution in an attempt to avoid detection by authorities.
“We are still tracking down other members of this drug syndicate, and some are believed to have fled overseas,” he said.
