POLICE UNCOVER 'TAIWANESE CONNECTION' IN US$2.36 MLN DRUG HAUL

By V. Sankara Subramaniam

SHAH ALAM (Selangor, Malaysia), May 5 (Bernama) -- A multi-million ringgit
drug haul from a makeshift drug processing laboratory, backed by what the
Selangor police suspect to have been a 'Taiwanese Connection'.

This was what the police uncovered when they raided a vacant shoplot in
Petaling Jaya near Monday.

In the 3pm raid, a police team seized over 317,000 Ermin-5 tablets and
powder worth a total of about RM7.1 million (US$2.36 million).

A Taiwanese chemist and a local accomplice were arrested in the shoplot
located in Bandar Pinggiran Subang.

The Ermin-5 tablets weighed about 54.6kg while the powder packed in four
plastic bundles weighed about six kilogrammes.

They were meant for distribution to ready buyers when the police team
severed the drug pipeline.

Also seized were an assortment of chemical products and a drug-processing
machinery to facilitate the production of the tablets, and various currencies
including RM21,000, 101,800 Taiwanese dollars, 1,440 Chinese Yuan and 450 Hong
Kong dollars.

Selangor police chief Tun Hisan Tun Hamzah said initial investigations
had indicated the two suspects, aged 35 and 41, had knowledge of drug
processing.

He believed the suspects were linked to a syndicate which had been supplying
and distributing drugs in the country and overseas.

Tun Hisan said the duo were remanded under Section 39B of the Dangerous
Drugs Act 1952, which carries the mandatory death penalty upon conviction.