MACC: Drug ring led by army officer

The Star

3 days ago

General orders: 10 individuals, including five senior armed forces officers, being escorted to the Putrajaya Magistrate's Court.
Senior officer is believed to have been directly involved in smuggling activities
KUALA LUMPUR: An army officer arrested on suspicion of involvement in a smuggling syndicate is believed to also be the mastermind of a drug trafficking operation, says Tan Sri Azam Baki.
The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) chief commissioner said the discovery followed a raid conducted with the police's Narcotics Criminal Investigation Department (NCID), during which a large quantity of drugs was seized.
He said the army officer was believed to have not only leaked important information to criminals, but was also directly involved in smuggling activities.
Azam said the MACC will seek additional information from the Defence Ministry to complete its investigation into the three serving and two former senior military officers allegedly linked to the syndicate.
'The information, including reports classified as confidential, will aid our investigations into activities believed to be occurring mainly in the waters of the Strait of Malacca off Melaka and Johor.
'I would like to thank the Chief of Defence Force for supporting the MACC and facilitating our investigation,' he told reporters during the MACC Chief Commissioners' Roundtable Conference, Bernama reported.
Bukit Aman NCID director Comm Datuk Hussein Omar Khan confirmed that four individuals were arrested on suspicion of being involved in a drug smuggling syndicate during the raid.
At another event, Armed Forces Chief General Tan Sri Mohd Nizam Jaffar said they are ready to hand over sensitive documents to the MACC to facilitate the probe.
'There is absolutely no issue (in sharing documents with the MACC). The main thing is to determine whether the allegations are true or not. If they are indeed true, we will take appropriate action,' he told reporters.
Mohd Nizam gave assurances that there was no operational compromise after the officers had their duties taken over.
Meanwhile, 10 individuals, including five senior Armed Forces officers were remanded yesterday.
Also remanded were two online portal journalists, a company manager, an administrative assistant at the Malaysian Medical Association and a foreign woman.
Four suspects were remanded until Aug 20, three until Aug 18 while another three will be detained until today.
The remand orders were issued by magistrate Irza Zulaikha Rohanuddin after the MACC filed the application at the Putrajaya Magistrate's Court.
On Wednesday, the MACC revealed that a smuggling ring allegedly involving banned items such as drugs, cigarettes and other contraband was uncovered following the arrest of 10 people, including five senior military officers in a special operation codenamed Ops Sohor.
The syndicate, believed to have been operating for the past five years, allegedly involved senior officers from the military's intelligence unit as well as two former members from the same division.
The smuggling activities were estimated to be worth around RM5mil a month. The officers are alleged to have amassed more than RM3mil in illicit gains over the five years.