KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian police busted a crime syndicate and seized $375 million-worth of cocaine, ketamine and other drugs, calling it in one of country’s largest hauls to date.
Four sting operations around Kuala Lumpur netted more than four tons of cocaine and 14 tons of ketamine, as well as the synthetic drug MDMA and drug-making equipment, police said in a statement released Saturday.
During Tuesday’s raids, police arrested six suspects: three local men and three foreign women.
Cars, forklifts and a truck were also confiscated.
Narcotics Crime Investigation Department chief Hussein Omar Khan told journalists at a press conference that the haul was “definitely one of the biggest drug seizures ever” in Malaysia.
“The drugs could have supplied 68.5 million users,” he was quoted as telling local media.
According to the investigation, a Malaysian man served as storekeeper and assistant chemist, with two other locals acting as his trusted aides. They oversaw residential houses and business premises turned into illicit drug labs, Hussein said.
The syndicate is believed to have been operating since April, supplying the international market.
“Our investigations showed the syndicate had been making various shipments overseas before the raids,” added Hussein.
The six suspects have been remanded in custody until Tuesday.
Malaysia is commonly used as a transit point for smugglers transporting goods ranging from endangered animals to drugs.
In 2019, Malaysian police seized 12 tons of cocaine in the northern state of Penang, worth an estimated $573 million.
Malaysia seizes $375 mn in drugs after busting sydicate
https://arab.news/n6v2g
Malaysia seizes $375 mn in drugs after busting sydicate
- Police arrested six suspects: three local men and three foreign women
- Cars, forklifts and a truck were also confiscated
Russian drone attack forces power cuts in Ukraine’s Kryvyi Rih, military says
- Kyiv says the campaign has forced rolling outages and emergency cuts to cities across the country, as repair crews work under fire and Ukraine relies on air defenses and electricity imports to stabilize the grid
KYIV: Russian drones struck infrastructure in the central Ukrainian city of Kryvyi Rih on Wednesday, forcing emergency power blackouts for more than 45,000 customers and disrupting heat supplies, military administration head Oleksandr Vilkul said.
“Please fill up on water and charge your devices, if you have the chance. It’s going to be difficult,” Vilkul said on the Telegram messaging app.
Water utility pumping stations switched to generators and water remained in the system, but there could be pressure problems.
The full scale of the attack was not immediately known. There was no comment from Russia about the strike.
Russia has repeatedly struck Ukraine’s power plants, substations and transmission lines with missiles and drones, seeking to knock out electricity and heating and hinder industry during the nearly four-year war.
Kyiv says the campaign has forced rolling outages and emergency cuts to cities across the country, as repair crews work under fire and Ukraine relies on air defenses and electricity imports to stabilize the grid.
Kryvyi Rih, a steel-and-mining hub in the Dnipropetrovsk region and President Volodymyr Zelensky’s hometown, has been hit repeatedly, with strikes killing civilians and damaging homes and industry.
The city sits close enough to southern front lines to be within strike range, while its factories, logistics links and workforce make it economically important and a key rear-area center supporting Ukraine’s war effort.
