Police shoot dead two armed criminals in shootout in Sabah

Police shot dead two armed criminals in an oil palm estate near here following a shootout during a police raid on a hut there early today.

Sabah Police Commissioner Datuk Abdul Rashid Harun said the dead men, in their 30s and without any identification documents on them, were believed to have been involved in drug trafficking, smuggling and armed robberies.

The police recovered two home-made shotguns, two pistols, several bullets and casings, an airgun, two knives, two machetes and several M16 ammunition from the hut after the incident in Ladang Tingkayu, he said.

They also found three transparent packets of what is believed to be syabu in the left trouser pocket of one of the men as well as several apparatus used in the smoking and selling of drugs.

Abdul Rashid told a press conference that following a tip-off and intelligence information, Kunak Police chief Supt Mohd Nasaruddin M Nasir led a team of policemen on a raid on a hut in the estate at 1.30am.