They hide drugs under bike seats

By Kor Kian Beng
December 14, 2007

THE operation: Smuggling drugs from Johor Baru.

The runners: Malaysian men.

The bosses: Singaporean gangsters.

Status: Busted.

The syndicate, believed to be run by the notorious Omega gang, would get Malaysian men to hide the drugs under the seats on their motorcycles, which they would ride into Singapore during the morning rush-hour traffic.

They would also get Singaporean women to travel by bus across the Causeway to Johor Baru and bring back drugs such as heroin and ganja.

The syndicate was busted after joint-operations between Singapore's Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) and Johor's Narcotics Criminal Investigation Department in the last two weeks.

Eleven suspects, including three Singaporean men, have been arrested.

One of the trio is believed to be the ringleader, said Assistant Commissioner (ACP) Haris Wong Abdullah, the Johor Narcotics Department chief.

He told The New Paper that the suspected leader was arrested at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport on 30 Nov, following a tip-off from the CNB.

The suspect, who had just arrived from Honolulu, the US, has admitted to being a member of the Omega gang, said ACP Haris.

On 1 Dec, another joint-operation resulted in the arrest of two more Singaporean men with two Malaysian men at Taman Mount Austin in Johor.

Narcotics officers also seized 136g of heroin during the raids.

The five are detained under Malaysia's Dangerous Drugs (Special Preventive Measures), said ACP Haris.

A spokesman for CNB confirmed that the bureau held joint operations with its Malaysian counterpart.

Yesterday at 3am, six Malaysian men, aged between 19 to 40 years old and also believed to be linked to the Omega gang, were arrested in Kampung Melayu Majidee in Johor for alleged drug offences.

Officers seized 8.4g of heroin, 8.6g of ganja and 30 Erimin-5 pills during the raid.

ACP Haris described the Singaporean suspects as members of a new generation in the Omega gang.

The New Paper quoted an Omega gang member in a 2003 report as saying that the gang was started in 1989 in prison by seven Malay inmates.

ACP Haris said the syndicate was also involved in prostitution, but didn't elaborate where this took place.

At a press conference in JB yesterday, ACP Haris said the Omega gang was active in drug-related activities in Singapore until it was busted by the CNB and police.

He said: 'But the younger members of the Omega gang have surfaced and set up their base in JB.

'Together with the Singapore police, we managed to smash the syndicate before it expanded its network.'