Indian in Malaysia runs drug racket, held

Kuala Lumpur: An Indian national has been arrested with three accomplices during an anti-drugs operation in Malaysia, police said on Tuesday.

The unnamed Indian, who was the alleged mastermind of the drug syndicate dealing with psychotropic pills, was arrested with three other accomplices in the course of several police raids June 19 leading to the seizure of two million Malaysian ringgit (around $622,314) worth of drugs, The Star online reported.

Acting on a tip-off, police seized 391,900 psychotropic pills from the car of a married couple in Nilai town in western Malaysia.

An hour later, police managed to track down two other syndicate members, including the Indian national in Putrajaya, 25 km from capital Kuala Lumpur and arrested them, the report said.

Kuala Lumpur police's Narcotics Criminal Investigations director, Noor Rashid Ibrahim said initial investigations revealed that the Indian national was the mastermind behind the syndicate.

"We believe they were smuggling the drugs from other countries meant for the local market. They have been operating for a few months," the report quoted Ibrahim as saying during a press conference Tuesday.