JOHOR BARU: A businessman was charged in the magistrate's court here yesterday with five offences of drug trafficking and possession.

Alvin Tham Zheng Xu, 33, was charged with three counts of drug trafficking and one charge of drug possession, which were read separately before Magistrate Hidayatul Syuhada Shamsudin. 

No plea was recorded as the case is under the jurisdiction of the High Court.

For the first to third charges, Tham was accused of trafficking 149,581 grammes of Ecstasy powder, 6,998 grammes of Methyl​enedioxy​methamphetamine (MDMA), and  3,000 grammes of Nimetazepam.

The charges were framed under Section 39B(1)(2) of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952 (Amendment 1980), punishable under Section 39B(2) of the same Act, which provides for a mandatory death sentence or life imprisonment, and a maximum of 15 strokes of the cane.

For the fourth charge, Tham was accused of possessing Ketamine weighing approximately 6,110 grammes under Section 12(2) of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952 and may face punishment under Section 12(3) of the same Act, which provides for a maximum fine of RM100,000, or imprisonment for up to five years, or both.

All the alleged offences occurred at a house on Jalan Utama 37, Taman Mutiara Rini, Skudai, around 9.45 pm on Nov 3.

It was reported on Monday that Johor police crippled a drug syndicate after busting its processing dens in the state capital, Iskandar Puteri and Kluang in a two-day operation that saw the seizure of a record RM28.31 million in drugs.

The drug seizure was one of the largest in the state so far this year.

Police detained seven suspects, including the 33-year-old ring leader and two foreign women. The syndicate is believed to be one of the largest drug syndicates operating in Johor.