Police raid two houses used to process ketum, nab three men

Ipoh district police chief ACP A. Asmadi Abdul said the man known as 'Khairul Anuar' was detained following the arrest of two men during a raid on a house in the area on Wednesday.

“In the 4.30 pm raid, the two men, aged 23 and 33, were arrested while they were busy processing and bottling ketum juice. Further inspection found 500 packets of ketum juice as well as 78 kilogrammes of ketum leaves.

“Following the arrest, police detained a man, aged 49, who lived next to the first premises, on the same day,” he said at a press conference, here today.

He said that Khairul Anuar, believed to be the mastermind of the processing and selling ketum juice activities which had been active for the past three years; the last time the suspect was charged in court for an offence involving ketum was on Feb 25.

All suspects were remanded from yesterday until this Sunday in accordance with Section 30 (3) of the Poisons Act 1952.

In another case, A. Asmadi said police had to open fire at the tyre of a Toyota Hilux vehicle driven by a man ferrying 28 black plastic bags believed to contain ketum leaves at KM280.3 North-South Expressway, southbound, next to Jelapang Toll Plaza, here on Monday.

He said in the 9.30 am incident, the suspect initially stopped the Toyota Hilux he was driving on the road shoulder at KM182 of the Kamunting Highway before speeding off when approached by a police patrol car.

“However, the suspect’s vehicle skidded and hit the road divider at the Jelapang Toll Plaza. The suspect then got out of the vehicle and boarded a white Myvi car which trailed him prior and sped off from the scene,” he said.