Sungei Asap villagers rise up against drug traffickers, abusers in their area, destroy several drug dens
Drug-related paraphernalia and a list of names of drug pushers and passport found in one of the huts in Sg Asap Belaga.
KUCHING: After waiting for years for the authorities to stop drug abuse and trafficking in their area, the villagers of Uma Baha, Sg Asap in Belaga finally took matters into their own hands.
Recently a group of more than 10 men got together to raid several huts used as drug dens in an oil palm plantation in the area and confiscated an assortment of apparatus for processing drugs, machetes and other sharp objects.
According to Pemanca Tony Kulleh all the suspects had run off when they reached one of the huts.
“Our JKKK and Rela personnel have taken the initiative to rid our area of drug abuse since no concrete steps have been taken by the relevant authorities to tackle the issue. The situation in our area is getting worse by the day.
“As of now we suspected that more than 30 of our youths are already drug dependents and if we don’t do anything, we will be in deeper trouble. So we have no choice but to take matters in our own hands,” Tony told The Borneo Post.
He added that his men had also burnt down the huts used as dens to prevent the drug pushers from operating from there.
“These drug pushers are foreigners, so why should we show any mercy on them since they are here to destroy our future generation,” Tony said.
He also urged the relevant authorities especially the police and Immigration Department
to urgently despatch their personnel to Sg Asap to rid the resettlement scheme of illegal immigrants.
“As for the locals who are in cahoots with these foreigners, they should also be hauled up as they are part of the gang that
made this place very unsafe,” said Tony.
When contacted, Belaga police chief DSP Melay Tingom confirmed that the police had picked up a suspect, a 29-year old Indonesian man from Sg Asap Monday night.
He hoped that the locals will continue to cooperate with the police to rid the district
of drugs and illegal immigrants.
Meanwhile, Assistant Minister of Water Supplies Liwan Lagang who has been tasked to look after the affairs of the Sg Asap Resettlement Scheme urged the enforcement authorities to
come down hard on the foreigners involved in trafficking drugs in Sg Asap.
“My advice to these agencies is to buck up, otherwise the situation will go out of control and to prevent the local people from taking the laws into their own hands as a result of lack of enforcement,” he warned.