JOHOR BAHRU: A local man who claimed he wanted to fish in an oil palm plantation area in Masai was among 25 individuals arrested by the National Anti-Drug Agency’s (AADK) Johor chapter in two operations near here, today.
State Health and Environment Committee chairman Ling Tian Soon said the man in his 40s, who did not bring any fishing equipment, was detained at the plantation along with 16 other individuals through ‘Op Bersepadu’, while eight individuals were detained under ‘Op Cegah’, which was carried out through door-to-door inspections.
He said all the individuals were arrested as of 7 pm in the operations carried out simultaneously since 10 am.
“A total of 17 individuals were arrested in Op Bersepadu, consisting of 15 local men, one Indonesian man and one local woman while Op Cegah involved eight local men with all those arrested aged between 20 and 60.
“They were taken to the Johor AADK office for a urine test, and if positive, further action will be taken including obtaining a remand order in court,“ he said at a press conference after participating in Op Bersepadu at the oil palm plantation here today.
State AADK director Azli Ubin also joined the operation.
Ling said the state government always took the issue of drug abuse seriously and would not compromise with enforcement action against such individuals.
Meanwhile, he said the state government had allocated RM1.13 million to support Johor AADK’s efforts to implement enforcement actions and programmes to deal with drug abuse cases.
He also mentioned that from the beginning of this year until March 6, a total of 377 individuals aged between 18 and 45 had been detained in Johor for suspected involvement in drug abuse cases, while last year, it involved 1,424 individuals within the same age range. – Bernama