Assistant Commissioner Raub Selamat (3rd left) shows the Honda Civic seized from the syndicate at the Johor Bahru South district police headquarters in Johor Bahru January 21, 2026. — Picture by Ben Tan
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By Ben Tan
Wednesday, 21 Jan 2026 5:15 PM MYT
JOHOR BAHRU, Jan 21 — Police crippled an illicit drug syndicate that was actively processing and distributing drugs from a budget hotel in Danga Bay here with the arrest of two men and seizure of narcotics worth RM1.08 million.
Johor Bahru South police chief Assistant Commissioner Raub Selamat said the syndicate used a budget hotel room as a transit point and mini laboratory before authorities conducted the pre‑dawn raid last Friday.
“During the 3am raid, police apprehended two male suspects, aged 35 and 37, and seized 2.25 grammes of methamphetamine, 100 grammes of ketamine and 80 grammes of yaba pills.
“Following that, police raided another room in the same budget hotel and found 7.7884 kilogrammes of ecstasy and various drug processing equipment,” he told reporters at a press conference at the Johor Bahru South district police headquarters here today.
Raub added that police also seized a Honda Civic car worth RM80,000, with the total drugs seized worth RM1.08 million.
He said initial investigations found that the two suspects often moved around several budget hotels in an effort to evade authorities.
“The syndicate, which has been operating for the past two months, buys drugs in larger quantities before repackaging and selling them to end consumers at RM250 per packet.
“The seized drugs are believed to be able to supply 80,184 addicts,” said Raub.
Assistant Commissioner Raub Selamat explains the arrest of a drug trafficking suspect at the Johor Bahru South district police headquarters in Johor Bahru January 21, 2026. — Picture by Ben Tan
Both suspects have previous criminal and drug records, in addition to testing positive for methamphetamine abuse.
They will be remanded until tomorrow to assist in the investigation under Section 39B of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952.
In a separate case, Raub said police arrested a 32-year-old unemployed man during a raid at a luxury condominium in Taman Abad here last Thursday.
He said the suspect was arrested with 10.78 kilogrammes of methamphetamine worth RM344,960 in the 6.20pm raid.
“We do not rule out that the suspect also sold the drugs via social media,” he said, adding that police also seized a lorry and two motorcycles worth a total of RM432,960.
The suspect is still being remanded until tomorrow to assist in investigations under Section 39B of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952.