KOTA KINABALU: Police arrested three men and seized over 10 kg of drugs worth RM386,848 in three separate arrests around the city recently.

Kota Kinabalu district police chief ACP Mohd Zaidi Abdullah said on Wednesday, a 37-year-old man was nabbed after he tried to escape when he came across policemen while holding a box containing seven packages of syabu weighing 7.17 kg at Lorong Ranggung Batek Likas.

"This led to the arrest of a 52-year-old man who is believed to be his accomplice in Luyang, followed by the arrest of a 50-year-old man in front of a shopping mall in Alam Mesra at about 2 pm yesterday.

"On checking, police found 1.02 kg of syabu in his sling bag," he told a press conference here today.

He said police later raided the third suspect's house in Kampung Bantayan, Inanam and found another 1.02 kg of syabu and one kg of ketamine.

Mohd Zaidi said the modus operandi of the syndicate was to order drugs from the peninsula using courier services through a fake address.

"The drugs were obtained on the same day when the suspects were arrested and this time they changed their tactic by using the packages of coconut-based products to avoid police detection. The drugs seized were believed to be for personal use and sold to addicts around Kota Kinabalu," he added.

The trio has been remanded for seven days and the case is being investigated under Section 39B of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952.

-- BERNAMA