GEORGE TOWN, Dec 7 — The Penang Maritime Department netted its largest drug seizure, worth about RM10.53 million, last week after a high-speed boat chase off the southern coast of Penang island.
In the 7.50pm incident on December 3, Penang Maritime State Director Capt Abd Razak Mohamed said the Penang maritime team, in an interceptor boat, noticed a suspicious white recreational boat about three nautical miles south-west of Pulau Betong.
“When our team asked them to stop, the boat sped off to escape and this led to a 30-minute high-speed chase along the coast,” he said.
During the chase, he said two suspects on the boat were seen dumping several objects into the sea and the suspects, too, jumped into the water, leaving the boat unattended.
“We managed to stop the boat at about 8.20pm and the items they discarded into the sea were eight black bags containing what is believed to be methamphetamines and a bag containing seven plastic bags filled with what we believe to be ecstasy pills,” he said.
He said initial investigations revealed that the methamphetamines weighed around 240kg with a street value of about RM9.6 million, while the ecstasy pills weighed around 9.3kg, bringing the total street value of the drugs seized to RM10.53 million.
The boat used by the suspects was also seized in the operation.
“Later, two suspects, in their 30s to 40s, were detained in relation to the case,” he said, adding that they have been remanded.
He said the maritime team, together with its investigation unit, have been surveilling the coast off Teluk Kumbar under Op Pertiwi for a week after receiving information on alleged drug-smuggling activities in the area.
It is believed that the two suspects are from a neighbouring country and have been smuggling drugs into Malaysia.
Abd Razak said the Maritime Department will continue to patrol and monitor the area under a special operation to prevent any similar illegal activities from occurring.
He called on the public with any information related to drug-smuggling activities to come forward and assist investigations by calling the state Maritime Operations Centre at 04-2626146.