Kelantan Police bust two drug trafficking syndicates

KOTA BHARU: Kelantan police busted two drug trafficking syndicates, known as 'Mat Yo' and 'Datin', detaining 13 individuals, including four Thai women, and seizing various types of drugs with a total value of almost RM7 million, in four separate raids conducted since Wednesday (May 5).

Kelantan police chief, Datuk Shafien Mamat, said in the first raid on May 5, police arrested a 32-year-old local man in an apartment in Kota Bharu after finding a plastic bag of toto with 14 packages inside, containing 84,000 reddish pills suspected to be drugs, worth around RM840,000, believed to belong to him.

"Following the arrest, police raided a house in Tanah Merah the next day and arrested a 43-year-old Thai man. After an inspection, police found 378,000 yaba pills, estimated to be worth RM3.78 million, at the premises," he told a press conference at the Kelantan contingent police headquarters today.

He said the two men were believed to be members of the 'Mat Yo' syndicate, and in the next two days the police arrested 11 more individuals believed to be members of the 'Datin' syndicate.

He added that it started with an arrest on May 7, when police arrested a 37-year-old Thai man at a house in Kota Bharu, after finding two plastic bottles containing codeine (cough medicine) and 30 packets of red and green pills suspected to be drugs.

"Police, acting on information, intercepted a vehicle in Kota Bharu and arrested two local men, aged 36 and 24, after finding 17 packages containing syabu in the vehicle," he said.

Shafien said based on the two arrests, police detained four more local men and four Thai women, including a 'Datin', in Kota Bharu, Pasir Mas and Tanah Merah, yesterday, to assist in the investigation.

He said for the 'Datin' syndicate, the police seized 180,000 yaba pills and almost 15 kilograms of syabu, worth RM1.8 million and RM540,000 respectively, with the value of various items seized amounting to more than RM300,000.

The police also seized various items from members of the two syndicates, aged between 23 and 48, including cars, jewelery and watches, with estimated total value of more than RM369,000, he said.

"All 13 individuals were remanded for seven days from the date of arrest, and are being investigated under Section 39B of the Dangerous Drugs Act," he said.

Shafien also said that the total number of drug seizures for the two syndicates could be used by over 300,000 addicts and it was believed to be for the market in Kelantan, Terengganu and Pahang.

-- BERNAMA