Police here believe they have uncovered a new method of selling and distributing marijuana - by compressing the drugs into 500 gramme packets - which is much thinner compared with the usual one-kilogramme packets.

The discovery was made when a local man, aged 44, was arrested while getting into a car in Taman Sejati, Sungai Petani, at 12.10am last night (July 15).

Upon inspection, packets of marijuana, weighing about 10.4kg, were found in the suspect's car trunk plus another packet containing 214.30gm of syabu.

The drugs seized were estimated to be worth RM44,000.

Kedah Narcotics Crime Investigation Department chief, ACP Abd Razak Mohd Zin said this was the first time they found ganja packed in such form, probably the syndicate's new tactic.

"We are investigating the reason behind this new strategy, it could be that it is much easier for them to sell the marijuana in smaller packets," he told reporters at the Kedah police contingent headquarters, here, today.

He said based on investigations police believe the suspect was responsible for distributing drugs in the northern region but police are out to find other members of the syndicate.

The suspect, who hails from Penang, has three previous records on drug-related offences and has been remanded until July 21, Abdul Razak said.