Two Singaporean men were arrested by the Narcotics Crime Investigation Department (NCID) of the Royal Malaysian Police during trafficking drug raids in Johor, Malaysia.

Both men wanted and charged in Singapore

Both men, aged 48 and 35, were wanted by Singapore authorities, Singapore's Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) said in a press release on Jun. 13.

The older man is wanted for suspected drug trafficking activities in Singapore, and the younger man is wanted for failing to report for urine tests since October 2023.

Malaysia's police handed both men over to CNB on Jun. 12.

The duo were arrested in Singapore that day and charged in Singapore's court on Jun. 13 for drug trafficking and failing to report for urine tests.

If convicted, they may be sentenced to up to 30 years' jail, or life imprisonment with 15 strokes of the cane.

Both men wanted and charged in Singapore

The two men were among 14 drug trafficking suspects, aged between 22 and 52, arrested during an operation in Malaysia on May 29.

Two other Singaporeans were arrested during the raids.

Malaysia news outlets identified the two men as Ee Chong Kiat, 36, and Tan Xiao Wei, 49.

They were charged in the Magistrate’s court in Johor with allegedly trafficking 58.6kg of MDMA, a type of ecstasy drug, in May 2024.

Malaysia's police conducted seven raids around Johor Bahru and the Iskandar Puteri area and seized RM11.6 million (S$3.2 million) worth of drugs.

The estimated weight of all the seized drugs was 198.5kg, including ecstasy powder and pills, syabu (methamphetamine), ketamine, Erimin-5 pills and MDMA.

Malaysia's NCID director said the amount of drugs can be used by 1.24 million addicts.

NCID also found the syndicate's processing facilities, and one of the suspects arrested, a 49-year-old foreign man, is said to be a syndicate leader.

The syndicate, which reportedly has been active since January 2024, would rent condominiums and terraced houses with fences and guards.

These locations would be used to process drugs, such as packing drugs in juice packets or manufacturing drugs to look like medicines, including painkillers, before they were distributed to neighbouring countries by road.

All the drug processing areas were shut down following the raids.

Malaysia police also seized six vehicles, 14 watches of various brands, and jewellery, along with RM204,069 (S$58,372) and S$22,970 in cash.

The total value of the seized property is estimated to be RM1.17 million (S$334,667).

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Top image from Free Malaysia Today