KUANTAN – Pahang police have arrested 9,662 individuals involved in various drug offences from early this year until August, with the amount of illegal substances seized valued at over RM7.9 million.
State police chief Datuk Seri Yahaya Othman said that during the same period, the Pahang Narcotics Crime Investigation Department also confiscated, among others, various vehicles and over RM2.2 million cash.
In addition to daily arrests, police also implemented various anti-drug operations in the state through the 2nd Ops Hawk in Pekan, Maran, Lipis and here, from Tuesday until yesterday.
He said that the operations, involving over 100 officers and personnel, arrested 287 individuals, including nine women, aged between 17 and 60, and also seized various types of drugs valued at an estimated RM38,830.
“Among the offences committed were for trafficking, testing positive and arrests involving wanted persons, in addition to four men being held under the Dangerous Drugs (Special Preventive Measures) Act 1985,” he said in a statement today.
He added that the operations targeted Felda areas, riversides and fishermen’s jetties.
Yahaya added that, through Ops Hawk, police managed to reduce the number of “pots” to obtain drugs in Pahang by shutting down five “pots” in Felda areas and one in a riverside area.
He said that police also took the initiative by enhancing enforcement under Section 39C of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952, which is that hardcore addicts or repeat offenders will be handed a longer jail term of not less than five years and whipping.
“This approach can separate the hardcore addicts and new addicts, whereby through this separation the new addicts have a higher chance to be rehabilitated without being influenced by the hardcore users,” he explained. – September 8, 2023