Eight people arrested for alleged involvement in gun and drug trafficking

JOHOR BAHRU: Eight individuals suspected of being involved in a gun smuggling and drug trafficking syndicate were arrested after two criminals were shot dead in a shootout with police in Taman Abad here on June 14.

Johor police chief CP M Kumar said four local men, three local women and a foreigner, aged between 20 and 40, were arrested from a homestay and apartment building around Wadihana, Kempas Utama and Taman Abad, the same day of the shooting.

“Police also seized three pistols, four pistol-like objects, 141 pieces of live ammunition, a knife, handcuffs, various police equipment, drugs and a fake police ID card.

“The police ID card was in the name of one of the suspects who was shot. They were using the card for gun and drug trafficking,” he said at a press conference at the Johor contingent police headquarters today.

A total of six pistols and 167 live rounds were seized along with drugs worth RM96,082 – methamphetamine (99.76 grams (g)), cannabis (1,126.13g), ecstasy pills ( 249.88 g), yaba pills (198.61 g). , Eramin 5 tablets (50.50 g), ecstasy powder (50.49 g) and heroin (49.66 g) – from the shooting and during the arrests, he added.

One of the criminals gunned down in the shootout, aged 42, was believed to have been the head of the syndicate, Kumar said, while three of the seven arrested locals had records related to criminal and drug offenses, while three others had drug-related histories. records.

The suspects are being investigated under sections 7 and 8 of the Firearms (Enhanced Penalties) Act, 1971, section 307 of the Penal Code, sections 8(a) and 36 of the Arms Act 1960, section 6(1) of the Corrosive and Explosive Substances Act. Offensive Substances and Weapons Act 1958, section 39B of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952, section 89 of the Police Act 1967 and section 42(1) of the Road Transport Act 1987, a he declared.

The shooting that killed the two criminals, aged 40 and 42, around 5 p.m. on June 14, occurred when the criminals, who were in a white Toyota Estima, opened fire on the police team following them after realizing they were being followed.