Teacher among 17 held for fire cracker offences

A primary school teacher was among 17 individuals arrested in a police operation during the month of Ramadan against the sale and possession of fire crackers, police said today.

The teacher, in his 30s, was held at about noon on July 6 in the 'Ops Gempur Khas' operation while selling fire crackers at the Majidee night market, said Johor Baharu Selatan Police chief ACP Sulaiman Salleh.

The 16 other people were small traders and unemployed individuals, he told a news conference.

He said the seized fire crackers and fireworks were estimated to cost RM10,000.

Sulaiman also said that during the period the police conducted 146 raids on entertainment houses, massage parlours, vice dens, drug addict haunts and motorcycle workshops, resulting in the arrest of 615 people.

"Some 475 of them were Malaysians and the 140 others, foreign nationals," he said.