KOTA BARU: The General Operations Force (GOF) seized ketum leaves and contraband cough mixture and frozen chicken worth a total of nearly RM100,000 in separate operations along the Kelantan/Thai border, yesterday.
GOF Ninth Battalion commanding officer Superintendent Nor Azizan Yusof said that the operations were conducted at three separate locations between 1am and 7.30am.
In the first operation, a 24-year-old man was arrested, and 35kg of ketum leaves and 576 bottles of cough mixture containing codeine were seized at the Gergaji illegal jetty near Rantau Panjang.
"Several GOF members spotted a motorcyclist and ordered him to stop. Upon inspection, they found the ketum leaves and cough mixture, worth about RM46,985," he said, adding that the man, who is a local, is being held for further investigation.
Nor Azizan said that the frozen chicken, valued at about RM45,000, were seized in two separate operations carried out between 6.30am and 7.30am at Kampung Tok Sangkut and Kampung Tasik Berangan.
The suspects, however, managed to escape on foot.
"The frozen chicken are believed to have been smuggled in from Thailand for local distribution," he added.